Bletchley Park: Home of the WWII Code Breakers

The name Bletchley Park will forever be linked to WWII codebreaking exploits and revered as the birthplace of modern computing. The historic estate near Milton Keynes was Britain's main codebreaking centre during the war, famous as the place where Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman, among others, broke the 'unbreakable' Enigma machine code and helped shorten the war by several years, feats brought to life in the popular film, 'The Imitation Game'.

After decades of secrecy, Bletchley Park is now open to the public, and visitors can see how the codebreakers lived and worked, and view the largest collection of historic computers in the National Museum of Computing. Having wanted to visit Bletchley park for years, I was thrilled to finally visit the once top-secret home of the World War Two codebreakers who decrypted the Enigma machine.

Acquired in 1938 by the Head of MI6 to be a wartime intelligence station designated as Station X, the station had only 200 workers at the start of the war, but by late 1944 it had a staff of nearly 9,000, working in three shifts around the clock. Experts at crossword-puzzle solving and chess, as well as mathematicians and scientists, were among those who were hired. About three-fourths of the workers were women.

Bletchley Park was set up to decode intercepted Nazi messages, some of which had been encrypted using Enigma machines. These devices typically changed settings every 24 hours and with 159 quintillion possible combinations every day, the staff at Bletchley Park worked around the clock to break the settings by hand. To facilitate their work, a mechanical code-breaking method for identifying the keys was needed and Alan Turing designed the Bombe to speed up the process. 

Later on, in January 1944, came Colossus, an early electronic computer with 1,600 vacuum tubes. The manor house was too small to accommodate everything and everyone, so dozens of wooden outbuildings had to be built. These buildings were called huts, although some were sizable. Turing was working in Hut 8 when he and his associates solved the Enigma. Other new buildings were built from cement blocks and identified by letters, such as Block B.

Despite the vital importance of the work, Bletchley Park still had trouble getting sufficient resources. Therefore, in 1941 Turing and others wrote a letter directly to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who promptly ordered his chief of staff to “make sure they have all they want on extreme priority and report to me that this has been done.” Operations were carried out under an injunction of strict secrecy that was not lifted even after the war ended. Only in 1974, when Frederick William Winterbotham received permission to publish his memoir, The Ultra Secret, did the world begin to learn what had been achieved at Bletchley Park. The property is now maintained as a museum.

Enigma Machine, the famous encryption machine used by the Germans 

during WWII to transmit coded messages

About 7,500 women worked in Bletchley Park, 

the central site for British cryptanalysts during World War II

All the buildings at Bletchley remain as they were during its time as a codebreaking centre

Work was highly compartmentalised, with different huts and rooms performing different functions, 

and for good reasons, no one knew what anyone else was doing

Chart today showing what functions were carried out in each of the rooms,

which we see now — but was totally secret at the time

Enigma was a cipher device used by the German military during World War II to encrypt secret communications, and consisted of a series of rotors that scrambled letters, making messages unreadable to anyone who did not have the proper settings to decode them

Babble sample

The National Radio Centre featured an exhibit named 'The Secret Listeners',

that under the aegis of MI6 radio amateurs were recruited as secret listeners and played an important part in intercepting German radio transmissions, which were sent to Bletchley for decoding

The Secret Listeners exhibition, known as the ‘Y’ (for ‘Wireless’) Service,

was just as secret as Bletchley Park during the war but nowadays is little-known or recognised

Signage was very helpful to find which huts to go visit

Typex machines were used once the codebreakers had worked out the Enigma settings,

then the machine was adjusted and the deciphered message came out as a long strip of paper

Alan Turing developed the Bombe Machine in 1939 at Bletchley Park, 

that sped up the process of breaking the day’s Enigma settings

 The Bombe featured multiple drums allowing for potential settings thus speeding up 

the process of breaking the day’s Enigma settings

Hut 4 was originally a section of the Government Code and Cypher School,

but has now been reconfigured as 'Hut 4 Café'

Hut 4 offers a selection of muffins fresh from the oven

Sausage Rolls

Vegetable Couscous

Bletchley Park was purchased in 1938 by the Head of MI6 to be a wartime intelligence station 

under the guise of "Captain Ridley's shooting party"

The British Government made Bletchley Park a station of the 

Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) and designated as Station X

The manor house was too small to accommodate everything and everyone, so dozens of wooden outbuildings had to be built which were called huts, although some were quite large

Sir Hugh Sinclair's office in the main house

A lending library in the main house was available to all at Bletchley

for casual reading during their time off

The Stable Block at Bletchley, where Alan Turing had an office

1940 Packard Touring Sedan was one not a fleet purchased by MI6

as a mobile wireless unit

The late Queen visited Bletchley in 2011 and said..

‘It is impossible to overstate 

the deep sense of admiration, gratitude and national debt that we owe 

to all those men and, especially, women. They were called to this place in the greatest of secrecy – so much so that some of their families 

will never know the full extent of their contribution.’ 

bletchleypark.org.uk

The Eight Bells: Chipping Campden Pub Lunch

 

Set in the heart of Chipping Campden, The Eight Bells is a traditional Cotswold pub co-owned by Neil and Julie Hargreaves for almost 30 years. Built in the 14th-century to house the stonemasons who built St. James’ Church, the Inn got its name by later being used to store the eight bells that were hung in the church tower. The 17th-century saw the Inn rebuilt using most of the original stone and timbers, then was extended in the Georgian period into what stands today, an outstanding example of a traditional Cotswolds Inn with a cobbled courtyard, tremendously popular on a warm sunny day. 

With ales from Hook Norton Brewery and North Cotswold Brewery, gin from Cotswold Distillery, meat from butcher David Moore on Chipping Campden’s High Street and seasonal vegetables from the area, the Eight Bells prides itself on celebrating regional ingredients. Arriving for our first Sunday lunch while staying at Little Orchard, we enjoyed a lovely walk along the high street before being seated at a quiet corner table beside the wood burning fireplace and a view through the leaded glass windows onto utterly charming Church Street. 

Arriving with Harry, Wami and baby granddaughter Mia on a sunny Saturday, we began with a few pints of beer, as we explored the special weekend menu, and settled on some delicious starters including a spectacular Smoked Salmon Roulade with horseradish and cream cheese mousse, golden beetroot, new potato and red vein sorrel, as well as Grilled Goats Cheese with Glazed Figs, yellow beets, baby watercress, mixed nuts and balsamic dressing, and a luscious Homemade Roasted Tomato Soup. Entrées included Traditional Fish and Chips with tartare sauce and garden peas, Steak and Ale Short-Crust Pastry Pie with creamy mash and celery purée served with cherry vine tomatoes and red wine gravy, and Eight Bells signature Prime Beef Hamburger with chilli-bacon jam, Mozzarella, Costswold Relish, lettuce, jalapeno and marinated onion on a potato bun with fries and coleslaw.

Six handpumps at The Eight Bells serve local and regional ales and two ciders

Our cozy table in the adjacent dining room 

The Saturday Lunch menu

Special additions to the menu

Pale straw in colour, 1985 is a premium lager from the Wye Valley Brewery 

on the border between Wales and England

A Wye Valley Bitter

Grilled Goats Cheese with Glazed Figs, yellow beets, baby watercress, 

mixed nuts and balsamic dressing

Homemade Roasted Tomato Soup with bread and butter

Smoked Salmon Roulade with horseradish and cream cheese mousse with golden beetroot

new potato and red vein sorrel

Traditional Cod Filet deep-fried in beer batter with hand-cut chips, 

tartare sauce and garden peas

Steak and Ale Short-Crust Pastry Pie with creamy mash and celery purée

with cherry vine tomatoes and red wine gravy

Harry's Eight Bells Prime Beef Hamburger with chilli-bacon jam, Mozzarella,

Costswold Relish, lettuce, jalapeno and marinated onion on a potato bun with fries and coleslaw

eightbellsinn.co.uk

Cirencester: Roman Heritage & Medieval Charm

 

Cirencester is a vibrant market town steeped in history, offering a fascinating blend of Roman heritage and medieval charm. Once one of the largest towns in Roman Britain, Cirencester’s rich past is still evident today, with landmarks such as the Corinium Museum, which houses one of the finest collections of Roman artifacts in the country, and the town’s impressive St. John Baptist Church, with its towering Gothic architecture, dominates the bustling market square and serves as a reminder of Cirencester’s importance through the ages. From its founding in the early 12th century the church was extended and embellished over more than three centuries, culminating in a complete rebuilding of the nave in the 16th century. The south porch was built by Cirencester Abbey around 1480 and only connected to the church in the 18th century. Because of its size, grandeur and historical importance, the church is known, informally, as the Cathedral of the Cotswolds, and is constructed out of the local Cotswold stone, a yellowish limestone, now aged and weathered, that gives the building a rich, warm colour, especially when illuminated by the sun.

A short walk along the High Street is Cirencester's premier seafood restaurant, Henry's Seafood Bar & Grill, where we had made reservations for lunch. A modern British-led restaurant with a heavy seafood influence and using fresh, locally sourced ingredients, including Newlyn lobsters and delicious St Ives’ crab, Henry's was recently remodelled the 17th-century space and features a collection of modern art throughout the space as well as attractive new furniture including oak dining tables made by local tradesmen. Beginning with a glass of champagne, we started with the Cornish curried white crab and sublime Orkney Scallops that were coal roasted in their shell with oak smoked chilli and garlic butter and served on a bed of rocks, followed by entrées including Lobster Risotto with garlic butter tail, lobster oil pangrattato and fresh tarragon, as well a delicious perfectly cooked Whole Plaice with brown crab meuniere, samphire and semi cured tomatoes. A glorious day exploring Cirencester followed with a delicious lunch, we're already looking forward to being able to spend more time in this lovely town the next time we're in the Cotswolds.

The large three-storey south porch of The Church of St. John the Baptist was built about 1490 

Impressive Medieval fan vaulting in the south porch of the Church

Age old round door knocker

Built of Cotswold stone, the church is one of the largest parish churches in England

St Catherine's chapel dates from around 1150 and was extended in the 15th century

with exquisite fan vaulting

Fan Vaulting with the coat of arms of Edward III of England 

Memorial monument to George Monax who died in 1638, 

was a wool merchant and Sheriff of London under King Charles I

Medieval Trinity Chapel Stained Glass dates from 1430 to 1460

The chancel and attached chapel represent the oldest part of the Church

dating from the 12th century

The Coffee and Tea Van in the Market Square

The charming Cirencester High Street

Established in 1815, Walter Bull & Son sells sterling silver condiment caps 

that were so fabulous that we bought one for our HP Sauce

The Bear Inn, around the corner from Walter Bull & Son, is a piece of Cirencester history, 

dating back to the 18th century

The charming stone and timber interior 

The English are very dog friendly and embrace well behaved pooches on the premises

A pint of award-winning Butcombe Beer before lunch

Henry's Seafood Bar & Grill in Cirencester

The fashionable interior of Henry's with oak tables made from a local caftsmen

Henry's Drinks and Food Menu

Grand Réserve Premier Cru Champagne

View from the dining room through to the Bar

A new Lunch menu was launched the afternoon we dined at Henry's

Cornish Curried White Crab with Brown Butter Dripping Toast, Coriander & Cashew

Orkney Scallops Coal Roasted In-Shell with Oak Smoked Chilli & Garlic Butter,

served on a bed of rocks

Pinot Grigio

Lobster Risotto with Garlic Butter Tail, Lobster Oil Pangrattato and fresh Tarragon

Whole Plaice with Brown Crab Meuniere, Samphire and Semi Cured Tomatoes

Rocket Salad wth Courgette, Lemon and Pecorino

A Bunny with monocle is one of the modern pieces of art fund throughout the restaurant

Framed photos of many stars are part of the restaurant's gallery of art

www.henryscotswolds.co.uk