May 2016 Bletchley Park Trip

Club Outing to Bletchley Park - Home of the Codebreakers

14th - 15th May 2016 

And so it was that 8 intrepid Fareham Rotarians and their partners spent a weekend in the hitherto top secret world of espionage - at Bletchley Park, the hideaway haunt of the celebrated ENIGMA machine code-breakers during World War II.   It was hard to believe that in that leafy country estate surrounding the beautiful Manor House, 9000 men and women commuted daily without anyone noticing - and if they did, no-one questioned what it was all about.  All had signed the Official Secrets Act and were disciplined to the adage “Careless talk costs lives”.     Even more impressive was the dedication- and inspiration - that each gave to their roles in ensuring that the War was foreshortened considerably and thousands of lives saved through their ingenuity.  

Having been born during the Battle of Britain myself, and still possessing my birth certificate with my father’s Army number written on it, I learned a lot more than he could have told me (or probably he ever got to know) of how serious was the threat that we lived under and how near we might have been to becoming just another ‘statistic’ of the carnage that might have ensued without Bletchley.

The story of Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman have been told so realistically in recent films and documentaries but to enter their world and see for oneself the conditions e.g the dimly lit huts, the manual typewriters and other office equipment set up as if they had just gone for a tea break was fascinating and accompanied by ‘real’ conversations between the incumbents by the clever and innovative use of video and audio effects throughout was incredible.

However, it would be wrong to suggest that this was a ‘museum visiting’ weekend.  It was far more enjoyable than that - the camaraderie, the humour and dare I say it, - the fine dining and wine tasting in good old Rotary style - marked another highlight of our trip - all thanks to the forward planning of Bob Mussellwhite (exercising his coach driving and navigation skills) and Lyndon Palmer’s organisation.

Well done chaps - Carry on!

George Cantrill