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The National Museum of Computing - Bletchley Park

Our trip to Bletchley Park was the one that I was most looking forward to, having a vague idea about the covert activities that occurred there during the Second World War thanks to shows like The Bletchley Circle and movies like the Imitation Game (which takes bold creative liberties, it turns out). 


We were there to see the National Museum of Computing, which is actually a separate entity from Bletchley Park though they share a space and a history. The location was chosen because it is only a train ride away from London without being conspicuously close. 

Our guide, a mathematician and rocket scientist named Sheridan, led our group through a history-rich tour, detailing the advancements in computing science with various iterations of computers and objects like memory storage devices. He went into detail about the great minds who contributed to codebreaking during WWII, like Alan Turing, Bill Tutte, and Tommy Flowers and the machines they designed, like the Bombe and Colossus. With these machines the Allies were able to anticipate Germany's moves, effectively winning the war.


The museum has full rebuilds of both the Bombe and Colossus, so it was cool to see these machines in person. We were also able to see the oldest original working computer in the world, which was the 16th computer built overall. It was designed to do the complicated math necessary for nuclear reactions. 

Sheridan was a lively and engaging guide, helping to break down complex ideas into understandable bites using useful analogies. He did a good job of promoting the role women played at Bletchley Park, stating that it was 4-1 women to men at the facility. The museum has made efforts it seems to tell the stories of women who worked here, using pop-up display posters like the one shown in the photograph below to talk about the Wrens (Women's Royal Naval Service). While the museum still has a male-heavy history it is good to see efforts to remediate this. 

While this tour was interesting and I was glad to get an opportunity to wander around the beautiful grounds of Bletchley Park and to visit their WWII codebreaking museum, we did not see or hear about either buildings' library or archive. This was disappointing as I'm sure they have plenty that would have interested a group of LIS professionals. As it stands, it was a good day trip out of London and an interesting opportunity to learn about a topic I know very little about. 


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