back to article Volunteers slam plans to turn Bletchley Park into 'geeky Disneyland'

Bletchley Park is planning to replace its volunteer tour guides with actors in a bid to turn the historical attraction into a "geeky Disneyland", The Register has learned. A number of people contacted The Reg after we wrote about the Bletchley Park Trust's decision to sack a pensioner after he showed visitors around the …

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  1. John G Imrie
    Unhappy

    Says it all really

    New tours of the facility have now started which take just one hour, rather than 90 minutes, to help pack even more tourists in.

    1. alain williams Silver badge

      Re: Says it all really

      Yesterday Iain Standen phoned me back after I called to complain about the fracas. He told me that the tours had been standardised and that 90 minutes was too long for visitors.

      I said that visitors should be given the choice.

      He seemed to know of the discussion on El Reg; I said that he should contact them to give his side of the story.

      1. Simon Harris

        Re: Says it all really

        One hour rather than 90 minutes?

        Then I shall be asking if the entrance fee is being reduced from £15 to £10.

        1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
          Trollface

          Re: Says it all really

          Those who are asking for a reduction are in bed with the Huns!

      2. Martin Gregorie

        Re: Says it all really

        He told me that the tours had been standardised and that 90 minutes was too long for visitors.

        He really is a complete pillock.

        I've done the tour twice and on both occasions it felt about right for length. A lot of the most interesting stuff is the result of having time to talk to the guides and for them to be able to follow up interesting questions with extra details that aren't part of the standard talk.

      3. IsJustabloke
        Meh

        Re: Says it all really

        Providing the tour isn't compulsory they can make it as short as they like.

        I showed myself round and found a member of staff to ask whenever I wanted to know something. They were all without exception knowledgeable and approachable. I also had a long chat with the owner of the Churchill collection.

        Seems a shame that this corporate suit is determined to ruin everything.

  2. Code Monkey
    Devil

    I look forward to them telling the story of how the Americans cracked the Enigma code.

    1. tony2heads

      Polish cryptographers!!

      The initial work was done by guys from Poland

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Polish cryptographers!!

        Typical Poles taking the jobs of British cryptographers

        1. Dave 126

          Re: Polish cryptographers!!

          I liked the Interactive Display in Futurama's Luna Theme Park, telling the history of Luna exploration:

          ""[Singing] We're whalers on the Moon, we carry a harpoon. But there ain't no whales so we tell tall tales and sing our whaling tune""

      2. Annihilator
        Thumb Up

        Re: Polish cryptographers!!

        "The initial work was done by guys from Poland"

        And there's a memorial to them at Bletchley.

        1. Elmer Phud

          Re: Polish cryptographers!!

          "And there's a memorial to them at Bletchley."

          Now you've gone and done it!

          Expect to change that to 'was' in order to keep the 'history' straight.

        2. SDoradus

          Re: Polish cryptographers!!

          And Marian Rejewski never did get properly honoured for it ... by his own country.

          1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

            Re: Polish cryptographers!!

            To be true, Poland is a country that grows, shrinks, disappears, then reappears, then is forcefully visited by funky Trotsky and his Red Army, then stabilizes, then disappears in a double-sided hostile takeover, then is sold for by FDR to jovial Russians for a presidential election win, then reappears in modified form shifted to the left on the map, then unsovietizes only to be europized later.

            It is hard to honour national heroes while doing this kind of electric boogaloo.

      3. Clive Harris

        Re: Polish cryptographers!! My father worked on it

        My father worked on the Polish coding machine. As a young apprentice draughtsman, he was given the job of preparing engineering drawings based on one of the first machines smuggled out of Poland. The work was done in top secret with an armed guard permanently at the door. He had to hand all materials and documents to the guard when he left the room and he was told he would be put up against a wall and shot if he ever mentioned what he saw in that room. Even in the 1990's he was nervous about telling me about it. He described it as looking like a small typewriter with some numbered wheels on it.

        Because of this job, and what he had seen in that room, he was forbidden from doing active service in the forces overseas afterwards, due to the risk of capture (although he did his share of air raid duty in London)

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Polish cryptographers!! My father worked on it

          Prussian cryptographers!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I look forward to them telling the story of how the Americans cracked the Enigma code.

      Could try the approach taken by the Deutches Museum in Munich (well at least was the case ~20 years ago) in their "History of Computing" section where there was a single panel on Alan Turing describing how he'd contributed to the development of computing while working on some unspecified project during the period 1940-45. Then the exhibition returned to the story of the German invention of computing.

      1. Nigel 11

        the story of the German invention of computing.

        Which is actually true. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Zuse

        Cracking Enigma was a huge achievement, but the hardware used was not a general-purpose computer. Turing's other contributions of genius were to the mathematics of computing and computability. He wasn't an engineer.

        1. Roj Blake Silver badge

          Re: the story of the German invention of computing.

          Turing may not have been an engineer, but Tommy Flowers was.

    3. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
      Paris Hilton

      "I look forward to them telling the story of how the Americans cracked the Enigma code."

      Wasn't there a submarine movie about this?

      1. Steve Evans

        There was indeed.

        At the end of the credits, there was a bit of text correcting all the inaccuracies, such as it wasn't the USA who forced a U boat to the surface, boarded it (even though it was about to sink) and retrieved the wheel settings book from the wireless room, it was the royal navy.

  3. Admiral Grace Hopper
    Flame

    One hour?

    Blimey, that's a bit swift. I've been on the Bletchley Park tour a few times and found it perfectly paced at 90 minutes. Mind you, if they're not taking in the Tunny/Colossus exhibit in the National Museum of Computing then that will save some time - pointlessy, stupidly and inadvisedly, but it will save some time.

    The decisions being taken by the Bletchley Park Trust seem bent on ripping apart two collections that really do have synergy - the one time that word does have a place in describing in how a place should be run and management are running away from it.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: One hour?

      Arguably breaking Tunny with Collossus did as much, maybe more, for the war effort as the breaking of Enigma, so yet I agree, it makes no sense at all to separate the two (also the NMoC is more interesting for us real geeks, and they have real working kit! :)

  4. Neil Barnes Silver badge

    I note

    that the web site for the computing museum mentions two or three times that it is not necessary to purchase a Bletchley Park ticket to visit the museum...

  5. Andrew Moore

    Time for The Register to weigh in methinks.

    Just to echo an idea in yesterdays comments- The Register needs to start using its readership clout and create a campaign for this.

    1. wolfetone Silver badge

      Re: Time for The Register to weigh in methinks.

      I'd +10 this if I could.

    2. Monsieurmarc

      Re: Time for The Register to weigh in methinks.

      Absolutely

      1. Dave 126

        Re: Time for The Register to weigh in methinks.

        A damn good idea. And perhaps a popular public figure with a very large twitter following and an interest in history, gay rights and technology could be recruited to raise awareness of this campaign amongst the general population?

        Oh wait, Mr Orlowski has other ideas. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01/28/stephen_fry_says_kildall_was_cracked/

        1. Elmer Phud
          IT Angle

          Re: Time for The Register to weigh in methinks.

          "Oh wait, Mr Orlowski has other ideas. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01

          /28/stephen_fry_says_kildall_was_cracked/"

          Anyway -- he wouldn't do it. It's not made by Apple so it must be shit.

          1. davemcwish

            Re: Time for The Register to weigh in methinks.

            Another reason is that he's done an introduction to the 'multimedia visitors guide'.

            http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/news/v.rhtm/New_for_Summer_2013_Multimedia_Guide-697252.html

            I suspect that the ultimate aim is to dispense with the warm bodies and use gadgets instead.

    3. Paul_Murphy

      Re: Time for The Register to weigh in methinks.

      My Thought:

      The Register picks a saturday and published it to it's readership.

      The Register designs a NMOC 'flag' for people to print

      On said saturday the readership does it's damnest to attend TNMOC, not BPT, with printed flags,

      When leaving the TNMOC people leave their flags with a personal note on the back.

      There is no profit, aside from a point being made perhaps.

      ttfn

      1. wolfetone Silver badge

        Re: Time for The Register to weigh in methinks.

        Computer people of the world unite!!!

        Joking aside, something has to be done. I was that pissed off with what I read yesterday I paid £50 to TNMOC (and Gift Aid of course) to become a member. Bletchley won't get a single penny of my money ever again until they stop what they are doing.

  6. stu 4

    Surely it can be changed ?

    As a trust and a registered charity, the power to change this lies with the trustees does it not ?

    The list is here:

    http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/content/about/BPTrust.rhtm

    It would be interesting to hear what some of them have to say about all this (El Reg....)

    The CEO should only be implementing their wishes. So, Standen being an arsehole* aside, what he is doing is surely what the trustees have asked him to do.

    stu

    *how did he get to CEO ? Even his bio on the site seems to suggest he was in the army, then here - totally unqualified for a role like this.

    1. Bumpy Cat

      Re: Surely it can be changed ?

      I agree that he doesn't seem to have a very good idea of how to run Bletchley Park. However, his bio actually says the complete opposite to what you say - he's ex-Signals, working in intelligence and signals, which is a direct descendant of the wartime work of Bletchley Park. He's also, since he left the Army, worked in battlefield history and tours, so he also apparently has an interest in history and communicating it to others.

      That does seem at odds with the Disneyfication of Bletchley, but there's no accounting for one person's ideas on how to do something.

      1. Evan Essence

        Re: Surely it can be changed ?

        I expect the Heritage Lottery Fund will have had a big say in this.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Surely it can be changed ?

          He who pays the piper calls the tune.

          The HLF will have had a say in this as the BP Trust would have had to agree to a selection of targets/ conditions to secure funding. Future funding would be dependent on meeting those conditions too.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            @Moultoneer

            > The HLF will have had a say in this

            Hardware Liberation Front??? now there's a cause worth supporting.

      2. stu 4

        Re: Surely it can be changed ?

        >I agree that he doesn't seem to have a very good idea of how to run Bletchley Park. However, his bio >actually says the complete opposite to what you say - he's ex-Signals, working in intelligence and >signals, which is a direct descendant of the wartime work of Bletchley Park. He's also, since he left >the Army, worked in battlefield history and tours, so he also apparently has an interest in history and >communicating it to others.

        I know what you are saying - but being in the same sector is hardly the most important pre-req for a CEO - it's senior management experience, previous CEO experience, experience on other boards, etc.

        His bio says he was an officer in the army, and then a tour guide... not someone I'd have employed to run a company.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Surely it can be changed ?

          stu 4: I agree. Iain Standen is probably a typical "Rupert", a product of the British Army officer corps where the old school tie are what matters, and the lower ranks are there to be bossed around. As for Signals, they had bugger all to do with wartime Bletchley Park, where much of the key personnel were on secondment from academia and organisations such as the General Post Office.

          1. This post has been deleted by its author

            1. Naughtyhorse

              Re: makes his actions all the more tragic.

              so a donkey lead by a donkey then

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Surely it can be changed ?

              'In WW2 Signals didn't have anything to do with Bletchley,'

              Where do you think all the intercepted traffic came from?

          2. Plausible Denial

            Re: Surely it can be changed ?

            "As for Signals, they had bugger all to do with wartime Bletchley Park, where much of the key personnel were on secondment from academia and organisations such as the General Post Office."

            Nonsense. The Royal Corps of Signals, as the Army's specialist Signal organisation, was closely involved with Bletchley Park, and especially the intercept stations - the "Y" Service - during WW2.

            A quick glance through the published works on the subject would reveal that.

        2. Plausible Denial

          Re: Surely it can be changed ?

          Whatever his other faults, Colonel (retired) Standen ran the Royal Signals Depot at Blandford during his career, which is a very large managerial undertaking, with a large civilian staff. His credentials for the post of CEO are perfectly adequate.

      3. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects

        A matter of logistics

        I know nothing but...

        "his bio says he's ex-Signals, working in intelligence, battlefield history and tours, so he has an interest in bowing the fodder across the lawns as fast as ..."

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Cloak and dagger at the BBC.

    There was some discussion on another (punctuation based) tech news site the other day about how the BBC had mysteriously pulled this story (which had thankfully been mirrored to youtube) only to re-instate it a few days later subtly altered. There was also some suggestion that Bletchley parks board of directors (which reads like a VIP guest list) may have had something to do with this.

    Not party to any of the politics, just know El Reg loves a good conspiracy theory.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Cloak and dagger at the BBC.

      Someone commented yesterday that the "subtle alteration" was to remove a "copyrihg image" from the start of the clip. I assume the process went along the lines of

      BPT1: "The BBC are making that clip available on their newsite and its pretty embarrasing for us - what can we do about it?"

      BPT2: "Well, see that picture at the start, that's something we own the copyright to so we can asked them to take the clip down on copyrihgt infingement grounds" <rings BBC>

      BBC: "Ok, you got us bang to rights guv, well take the clip down" <takes clip down, gets out video editor and removes image, puts clip back up again>

      BPT1&2: "and that just makes us look even worse" <facepalm>

  8. ukgnome

    Whilst I want Bletchley to keep going

    I do understand the cost to keep it open, even with volunteers......But this is wrong, I actually used to work as an actor in a fish museum (year I know right) but the thing that amazed me about that role was summed up in this article, and seemingly I think it applies to any niche historical museum.

    "namely a British quirkiness arising from an extensive range of exhibits manned by volunteers who knew their stuff and were happy to share it."

    This was the case when I visited Bletchley the first time, I had an hour long conversation about valves and how they work. The chap also gave me an up close tour of the machine room because I had an enthusiasm that he liked. What actor would do that?

    1. fixit_f

      Re: Whilst I want Bletchley to keep going

      Couldn't agree more - have you been to the Science museum in London recently? It's all "interactive exhibits" and touch screens now and it seems they want to take Bletchley Park down that same path. I've been twice, and the first time I was fortunate enough to spend a good ten minutes chatting with Tony Sale which was just an amazing experience. He told me all about how when he was building the colossus replica he would get tipped off about old analogue telephone exchanges being decommissioned, and he and his mates would turn up there and climb into the skips out the back to scavenge rare GPO parts. Speaking to people like Tony was the whole appeal of the place to me, and there were plenty like me who visited the place from far and wide exactly because they'd heard it was the opposite of most museums - I initially found out about it from a great book called "Bollocks to Alton Towers" which is all about the theme of finding quirky British attractions. If it becomes sanitised, it just becomes another crappy modern museum, albeit one in the middle of bloody nowhere well off the tourist trail with a very limited audience. Welcome though the lottery funding is for much needed restoration of buildings, bringing in this consulti-twunt to make these changes sounds like a recipe for disaster and something really should be done before it's too late and he's alienated the very small pool of knowledgeable people who bring the place to life.

      1. davemcwish

        Re: Whilst I want Bletchley to keep going

        @fixit_f There's also a sequel to that book called "Far From the Sodding Crowd", have got both. Agree with all the comments. The success, or otherwise, of these places is that it's the knowledge of the guides that crucial not some standard script designed to maximize the throughput of guests by minimizing questions for which a detailed answer is required.

    2. Lallabalalla

      Re: Whilst I want Bletchley to keep going

      +1 for having been "an actor in a fish museum" :)

      1. The elephant in the room
        Happy

        Re: Whilst I want Bletchley to keep going

        Hi, I'm Troy McClure; You may remember me from interactive exhibits such as "Electric Eeels - The Shocking Truth" and "Codfather - The Captain Birdseye Story"...

    3. Captain Hogwash
      Linux

      Re: fish museum

      Where is this fish museum? It sounds like the sort of thing I'd like to visit.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Joke

        Re: fish museum

        That's nothing; Amsterdam has a museum dedicated to sheep farts.

        At least, that's what I think it says... ;-)

      2. ukgnome

        Re: fish museum - @Captain Hogwash

        That would be the National Fishing Heritage Centre in Grimsby

        My job there was in the futuristic exhibition loosely based around fish called "the posiedon experiment", it involved artefacts having their memory read by the organic super computer known as the organism. It culminated in a motion cinema experience which explored the memory of a long dead fisherman.

        1. Captain Hogwash

          Re: fish museum - @Captain Hogwash

          Ah, so more of a fishing museum then. Not quite what I was looking for but thanks for the information.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: fish museum - @Captain Hogwash

            Ah, so more of a fishing museum then

            Of course. The only way you could do a fish museum is with a couple of very serious freezers, and even then they won't keep that long..

            1. Lars Silver badge
              Joke

              Re: fish museum - @Captain Hogwash

              "The only way you could do a fish museum is with a couple of very serious freezers". Not so sure about that, there must be a singing fish museum somewhere in the US. No freezers needed, earplugs perhaps.

            2. Captain Hogwash

              Re: serious freezers

              Well, first I'd point out the icon in my original post. Then, if you still thought I was serious, I'd play along and ask if you'd ever heard of taxidermy? Have a good day.

          2. Bigbird3141

            Re: fish museum - @Captain Hogwash

            I think this is what you're after: fish in a museum (you can even see some on the front page)

            http://www.nhm.ac.uk/tring/

            It seems to be where the NHM put all the interesting stuff when they dumbed down the main museum.

            Have you seen the dinosaur exhibit now? A few interesting skeletons and an awful lot of manufactured "educational" rubbish e.g. the animated t-rex.

        2. stu 4

          Re: fish museum - @ukgnome

          they should have called it 'The Fish Museum'. sounds much better.

      3. Anonymous Blowhard

        Re: fish museum

        Then you'd probably enjoy a trip to "Barometer World":

        http://www.barometerworld.co.uk/

        Or, failing that, try "Badgerland":

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Museum_of_Everything#Badgerland

    4. Elmer Phud

      Re: Whilst I want Bletchley to keep going

      " What actor would do that?"

      More likely instructed to keep 'em moving and keep referring to the gift shop.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Whilst I want Bletchley to keep going

      > I actually used to work as an actor in a fish museum

      I'm not going to ask.

  9. Big_Boomer Silver badge

    LALALALA! We're not listening because we are right and you are wrong!

    Sounds like a typical British bureaucrat. Me right, you wrong,... me alpha, you butt kisser. How do these people get these jobs when they quite obviously don't have a clue? Oh yeah, it's given them as a reward for being a good boy and kissing the right butts for many years. Ability???? Why would that have any bearing on the matter? I'll have you know I've had dinner with Lord MuckettyMuck and ,my daughters horse is stabled at the same stable as the Queens 3rd butlers sons cleaner.

    1. Havin_it

      Re: LALALALA! We're not listening because we are right and you are wrong!

      The Queen's 3rd butler's son's cleaner lives in a stable?

      You should give the Mirror a call with that one!

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nest steps

    Let's see, based on past performance of national assets, the trick goes:-

    - Get £8million in funding

    - Makes claims of "world class" something or other

    - Sell off family silver to $PARTY_DONOR

    - Rinse and repeat

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    You know he's on the way...

    "The Trust have been trying to recruit actors to film chunks for their new interactive displays, with little regard for accuracy"

    If only there was an actor who has sketchy (at best) knowledge of all things technical but everybody trusts because he's so lovely........

    Someone call Fry!!

    1. wolfetone Silver badge

      Re: You know he's on the way...

      The role would suit him. You can imagine him there, tweed jacket, smoking pipe, and his 30 year old Macintosh hooked up to the Enigma machine which was graciously rescuded from the German's by the Yanks.

    2. Dave 126

      Re: You know he's on the way...

      Seriously though, Stephen Fry seems a natural fit to champion this cause. Though some might criticise him on points of detail, he a genuine interest in technology, gay rights, languages and German history - and has a larger profile amongst the wider population than The Reg does.

      Don't forget that he was vocal in his support of Paul Chambers, the man who was prosecuted (and later acquitted) after he tweeted jokingly that he would 'blow up Robin Hood airport'.

      1. Captain Hogwash

        Re: Stephen Fry seems a natural fit to champion this cause.

        So somebody on Twitter send him a tweet.

      2. Elmer Phud

        Re: You know he's on the way...

        If it ain't Apple would he bother?

        1. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects

          If it ain't Apple would he bother?

          Maybe someone from Apple might take it over so they could grab anything not copyright. Writing on valves or some such?

          Wrinkly enamel paint?

          Got it:

          Cobwebs for debugging.

          I'm pretty sure that hasn't ever been copyright

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: You know he's on the way...

        "blow it sky high" but I take your point

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Money, as always, is the problem

    They desperately needed money, then the lottery cash arrived - and with it came a whole new bunch of people with ideas on how to spend it.

    Remember the early lottery ads? "It could be you!" the disembodied voice proclaimed, as a big finger came out of the sky and pointed at random people on the street. I don't really think sacking elderly volunteers was what they had in mind.

  13. Steve Todd

    Stop me if I'm wrong

    But actors need know nothing about the subject they are being filmed on (and being as it's film they need not worry about being asked questions). All they do is read their lines. It's the WRITERS that need to know their subject.

  14. a well wisher

    Why not ....

    film the existing volunteers giving their current presentation rather than actors ?

    They already know all the likely questions so can cover those, have the enthusiasm for the subject etc

    Unfortunately they will need to be replaced at some time ( due to the march of time..) - rather their presentation ( which I've experienced ) than some bloddy actor or worse Mr Stephen (Gary Kildall who ?) Fry

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This is entirely predictable. For some years now any (BBC, anyway) history documentary has been a shitty docu-drama, like they're specifically catering for the audience that only watch implausible action movies or Disney CGI animations, and never watch anything made back in the days of monochrome. One charitably imagines those who decided to go this route thinking it is the only one likely to impart knowledge to the modern audience; except that it approaches knowledge the same way Hollywood does; the 'story' is more important than accuracy. My impression has been that History as entertainment morphs into entertainment as History at the speed of light.

    1. ckm5

      I don't think you've really ever experienced shitty docudramas unless you've seen US television. Seriously, it's so bad I'd gladly pay the license fee just to watch anything from the BBC.

    2. Lamont Cranston

      I don't think this is true.

      Not all history on the beeb is in "docu-drama" format - there's plenty of person-who-knows-what-they're-talking-about-presenting-to-camera, too (Lucy Worsley's recent series comes to mind, particularly as her passion for the subject really comes through).

      1. Intractable Potsherd

        Re: I don't think this is true.

        Hmmmmm ... my general opinion is, and always has been, that if you can remember the name of the person doing a documentary, then that documentary has failed. It has become a vehicle for the presenter, not a documentary. David Attenborough and James Burke, wonderful as they were back in the day, were* essentially brands before there was much recognition of the concept in the minds of the public. Michael Wood consolidated it through the marketing of the "sexy academic", and then Tony Robinson made archaeology a branch of acting. The current crop of PR'd academics are just really irritating - Brian Cox, Neil Oliver and that bunch of vapid creatures on "Coast" are at the top of that list, but it goes on and on ...

        I rarely watch any documentaries these days, and certainly not if I recognise the name of the person doing it - I think the only one I've watched in the last 12 months was the series about Bigfoot/Yetis, which wasn't particularly good but had no-one I'd ever heard of on it.

        *Attenborough still is, of course, but I don't watch anything by him any more.

  16. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge

    World class attraction

    That phrase immediately sets of alarms. If you have a world class historical site, WHY do so many idiots feel the need to foist their vision of "a world-class attraction" on it. Sure, you can add meaningful entertainment to historical sites without spoiling it (I remember a castle in France which had installed a series of games in the courtyard, all either old, or meaningfully linked to the history of the place (like a simple game with toy crossbows, or an old variant of skittles). Really good sites allow at least a degree of exploration, allowing you to make up your own mind, and don't force one particular vision and one particular style down a visitor's throat. Why should Bletchley Park have problems with the different approach and attitude of the museum.

    Someones ego needs deflation

  17. Terry 6 Silver badge

    Building a reputation

    There's no Kudos or career development in leaving things alone.

    No one ever got promoted for not fixing something that wasn't broke.

    But if you want glory, an OBE and/or a well paid job in a shiny big national museum you need to do a job of work on something smaller first........

  18. cpage

    Send them an email

    I have just sent them an email to protest about these changes, using their webform on

    http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/content/contact.rhtm

    If lots of us do the same, maybe they will get the point.

    1. Simon Harris

      Re: Send them an email

      Wonder if it would be worth ccing Baroness Trumpington.

      As a wartime employee there she might have some interest in how her work is being presented.

  19. Brenda McViking
    FAIL

    Looking at the BPT Board members...

    It would seem that none of the trustees have any engineering or computer experience between them, save one woman who did "computer programming" for a couple of years before climbing the corporate ladder, and a telecoms exec. That said, there are Lawyers, Civil Servants, Historians and investment bankers aplenty.

    No wonder Collosus, Tunny or any of the exhibits that made Bletchley park what it was have no support - it's too busy being run by executives who have no appreciation for what happened there from the technical and mathematical point of view. A woefully unqualified Board to run Bletchley, if you ask me, even if they can run large organisations.

    And yeah, the Gullivers Kingdom guy is still on the board too - tells you all you need to know.

  20. MrMur

    I think the actors were for filming segments of footage for use during the tour, not presenting the tours themselves.

    I did the old tour with two 9-yearolds and I can say they got very bored unfortunately. Definitely not suitable for the younger consumer. I enjoyed it but I did feel it was a little slow in places. There was an element of is/is not colossus viewable today which I found a bit confusing. In the end we saw it.

    Changes definitely welcome, but being sensible about it is also welcome.

    1. Lamont Cranston

      Very sensible comment.

      No museum is going to survive solely on middle-aged patrons. Still, sacking the tour guides is probably not the answer (I caught the piece on Radio 4, where the guide was sacked after taking his group round the computer museum - utterly heartbreaking).

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A message from the target of these 'improvements'

    My daughter listened to a family discussion of this news; she's currently in the first year of secondary school and visited BP and TNMOC last year. She was absolutely outraged, she thought both sites were fascinating just as they were. She assertively asked me to post here pointing out that these changes are to increase the appeal to people her age, and it sounds like the opposite to her.

    She wants to write a letter making that point - who's best to send it to ? I'm thinking the Chairman of the BP trustees, c/o the BP main address ?

    1. David Pollard
      Pint

      Re: A message from the target of these 'improvements'

      Maybe an FoI request would be in order to ask what supervision there is to ensure that lottery funding is used appropriately?

      https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/search/lottery/all

    2. Terry 6 Silver badge

      Re: A message from the target of these 'improvements'

      Good for her!

    3. Paul_Murphy

      Re: A message from the target of these 'improvements'

      There is no need to limit a letter to one person, Think your MP, Bletchley local councillors, local and national newspapers, the education board, BPT trustees - the list goes on.

  22. Annihilator
    Boffin

    Already happening

    I've been to Bletchley twice now, once about 2 years ago and then again last October.. The difference was quite telling, in that it's now more public-friendly (shorter tours, eletronic "tour guide" iPod Touchs with video clips narrated by Jonathan Foyle and some "re-enactments").

    I preferred the older version, which was a lot more rustic and feeling like you were exploring the old site, instead of what is becoming a tourist attraction built on the old site. But I know what is more likely to attract people to visit, so I can understand the motives.

    The computing museum though, is very much a SPB style shed outfit, which I enjoyed immensely.

    1. TNMOC peter

      Re: Already happening

      "The computing museum though, is very much a SPB style shed outfit, which I enjoyed immensely."

      A well decorated shed built out of stone I might add, full of restored and working machines of all ages (Saturdays best to see then running) and equally working, enthusiastic volunteers of all ages.

      www.tnmoc.org

  23. KirstarK

    You forgot to mentioned they are sealign off areas to stop people seeing it even though its sod all to do with them.

  24. CM
    Stop

    Journalism note

    "were furious about the Trust's plans to modernise Bletchley"

    Do flag up all such uses of the m... verb. Do not use in a straight manner when it means "peddle some crap idea" or "sack volunteers" or "dumb down" :-)

  25. Christopher Slater-Walker

    I did what a previous posted suggested, and put this on BPs comments page at

    http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/content/contact.rhtm

    Copy it to your heart's content, but send it to them!

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    What do you people think you're doing?

    Colossus, Tunny etc. were an integral part of what happened at Bletchley Park. "Integral" means that those things that did happen, could not have happened without them.

    Therefore it is beyond my understanding how these items are considered by the Trustees of Bletchley Park as non-central to the whole story of the place.

    I note that you continue to receive substantial rent from TNMOC, yet you consider that Colossus and Tunny are no longer worthy of being part of your guided tours. (I count myself lucky, therefore, to have taken the tour some time ago, while they were still part of it).

    Also note that TNMOC say that the inclusion of these items in the tour formed an important part of your successful Lottery funding bid. It looks very dishonest indeed to now exclude them.

    Please reconsider this matter. How can you possibly give a full understanding of the technological and intellectual brilliance which was so much a part of Bletchley Park's wartime success, when you don't take paying visitors to see the concrete results of that brilliance?

    Regards, etc.

    1. Intractable Potsherd

      I've taken your template and sent it now.

  26. dervheid
    Thumb Down

    Dumbing down.

    This seems to be part of the overall agenda of this scumvernment and the associated 'establishment'. They don't want a well-educated populace that can challange their authoritarianism; they want the sheeple dumb enough, skint enough and hungry enough to be grateful for the scraps from their table.

    Another example of the "look at the shiny-shiny" distractions being pumped out.

  27. Stoneshop

    Old hands' tales

    I've visited the Landschaftspark in Dusseldorf twice. It's a decomissioned steel plant, with its blast furnaces and such made accessible to the public (not all of it; its gasometer is now a diving tank and the generator hall is an auditorium, for instance). Entrance is free, day and night, but you can arrange for a tour guide, most of whom are guys who have worked there, at the coal face so to speak. Having one of them explain what they did, how they did it and what it was like, operating the drill to drain a load of molten iron from the furnace, then have it flow down a channel in the floor just meters away from you.

    That's something no one else can convey.

    1. Intractable Potsherd

      Re: Old hands' tales

      The National Coal Mining Museum just outside Wakefield is the same idea - people who actually experienced the good and the bad bits of the job giving the benefit to visitors. Well worth a visit.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Old hands' tales

        Sadly, in common with Bletchley, the boss (lady at NCM) is a complete a*hole - arguably so outstanding in that respect that she could be standen's role model - i.e. the people that actually have relevant knowledge and experience are just an annoying distraction. Is it something about this kind of job that attracts them?

  28. Billa Bong

    What I want to know,

    and what the Reg should find out, is *honestly* how many of the trustees and management actually did the tour (particularly the Crap Egotistical Officer) and *honestly* thought cutting out parts of it was a good idea.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What I want to know,

      Also, you should ask who it was that gave them the tour.

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A gap between policy and delivery

    And this applies to more than just this specific instance

    The trust(ees) know what they want to achieve - more people of all ages visting and finding out about what went on; inform, educate, entertain etc

    But trustees of can't do this of themselves so they have to rely upon consultants, staff, volunteers etc.

    In some ways a trust is like a business, the trustees are something like a board of directors, and there are well-managed businesses and badly-managed businesses. You might not care so much if a double-glazing firm in the next county went to the wall through bad management but when its something that is of national importance you do.

    Sorry got a bit rambly there

    1. David_H
      Megaphone

      Re: A gap between policy and delivery

      Disclaimer: I am trustee of a number of charities.

      Trustees do not need to spend vast sums of money on consultants, they just need to have the conviction of their investigations, experience and gut feelings, and go for it. But that does require them to actually know about the organisation they are trustees for!

      What we are seeing here are trustees who don't understand what is so special about the site, the museum collections, the human history, and the insight the volunteer's bring. Because they don't understand it they have no conviction of feeling, so they outsource that to consultants as an expensive insurance (if it goes tits-up, they can blame the consultants and escape Scott-free.)

      Trustees have to ensure that a charity is run in the best interests of the charity (follow its mission statement if you will). That doesn't mean making lots of money, or hiving it all off to a few fat-cat employees - in fact by definition a charity shouldn't make a profit! And a charity can't just change its mission statement; for instance a dog's home suddenly changing to become a cat's home, or a site dedicated to the preservation of an important part of national history changing to become a theme park.

      I often hear the term "professional management team". To me this just equates to people who have never worked on the shop floor, but instead went to the right school and have made a living lurching from disaster to disaster just before they are found out. They should never be allowed near any position of responsibility and certainly never near a charity! In one national charity that I’ve been involved in for over 30 years, (but I am not a trustee for), the CEO’s wage accounts for 1/8 of all spending and the head office staffing over 55% and yet the mission statement says “run by the members for the members”!

      </rant>

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The human aspect

    Sickening ... as Bletchley was was entirely about the /people/ ... the technology was merely a bi-product of their ingenuity and dedication.

    To remove the human element from the tour is to ... well ... can't say it better than the article already said: turn it into a geeky disneyland - dummed-down hollywood style. To what end? Profit?

    This reminds me of my childhood in New Zealand - my Granddad who served on an Aerodrome near Barnet through WWII used to tell me first hand stories of life in wartime England. There is absolutely no substitute for this kind of knowledge transfer.

  31. jason 7

    Have these people...

    ...no honour?

    1. Intractable Potsherd

      Re: Have these people...

      No.

  32. Fedup

    This is exactly what has happened to the Space Centre in Houston. I was so looking forward to that but id was full of dumbed down exhibits with no recognition of the technology and the people involved. I was caught on the way out my a market researcher asking me what I thought. When asked about my overall experience I answered that I would have enjoyed it more if I had 9/10th of my brain removed as that represents the level of intellectual stimulation. Contrast that with the Pima air museum just outside Tucson AZ. It was full of guys that had been in the Air Force / Army flying these planes. There where a couple of guys there that had flown the bombers over in Europe during WWII and their stories and view of what it was like was fascinating. We spent most of the day there - even my wife found it interesting. Unlike the Space centre which we left after a hour or so.

    1. eldel

      Ah yes - the Johnson manned space center (as was). First went there about 20 years ago - fascinating stuff, guided by people who were space geeks. Now that I live just up the road (well, in Texas terms - about 200 miles) it's an easy day trip - and no longer worth the effort. Some of the 'specials' they put on are OK but in general it's set up for the touring family with young kids and no real interest in the space program outside crappy CGI movies. The 'more interesting' (read older) parts are almost deserted. I suspect because they aren't interactive enough.

      Much the same has happened to the Kennedy facility. There is a saving grace there though. Pay for the Canaveral rocket site tour. That's the old army rocket/missile sites. Again (well, as of a couple of years ago) that is still guided by people who worked there when they were preparing things like nuclear anti-aircraft missiles designed to take out the Russian bomber fleets in mid-atlantic. You get to see the bunker which was the control station for the original Redstone manned flights. And find out why it was only 250 ft from the launch pad. Wonderful stuff - highly recommended for your El-Reg reader.

  33. jason 7

    Why dumb something wonderful and intriguing down for the thick people?

    After all someone like Joey Essex isn't ever going to go there?

    Some of us like to have our intellects tested, stretched and enriched.

    1. Intractable Potsherd

      Re: Why dumb something wonderful and intriguing down for the thick people?

      That is a really good point!

  34. PeterO
    Holmes

    A well researched summary

    Best summary of the situation I've seen : http://freelance.halfacree.co.uk/2014/01/disharmony-at-bletchley-park/

  35. Eradicate all BB entrants

    I go to a museum .....

    ..... to look at the exhibits and hear from people who have working knowledge of them. I don't go to one in order to watch videos on a fucking ipod, I can watch the videos at home.

    On payday I will be purchasing 100 pixels to sponsor a valve on Colossus. If all the people commenting on here do the same it may be a nice boost for them. Who is with me?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I go to a museum .....

      I wasn't aware of this campaign, thanks - I've just bought 500 pixels.

      1. Eradicate all BB entrants

        Re: I go to a museum .....

        I wish I could afford to buy 500 right now, have an upvote on me :)

  36. Ian Rogers

    relevant petition

    http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/59686

    1. fruitoftheloon

      Re: VERY relevant petition

      Thank you Sir,

      I have just registered my indignation.

      J.

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Other attractions/museums that might interest you all...

    ... if you want to engage with folk passionate about the stuff they curate. A couple I know of are the Royal Observatory in Hurstmonceaux which has actual researchers, typically postgrads, living on site doing the tours /and/ an active ARS with radio telescopes, radar etc. fired up to show visitors. The electric museum in Christchurch, Dorset is actually amazing and staffed by volunteer retired engineers. Call first before going on a weekday to make sure someone's going to be there. I found both to be way more engaging that BP (it's been a few years since I last went though), and both are much better if you're taking kids along. I personally did enjoy the colossus, but the commercial computing exhibit was shut when I went. (What I could see though the window resembled my loft and garage.)

    Maybe thereg could compile a list of tech attractions for rainy days and order them by actual sci/eng interest.

    1. DiViDeD

      Re: Other attractions/museums that might interest you all...

      By Damn, Herstmonceux! Apart from their 'weird science' interactive exhibits, the best part was listening to one of the astronomers explaining how the whole observatory had been designed to 'blend' into the environment, with copper domes that weathered to produce a neon green that stood out from the trees like a searchlight, and variable level platforms and walkways interspersed with interesting water features. Apparently, in the days of purely eyeball astronomy, many an astronomer, trying to maintain his/her night vision, ended up in the water or falling to their doom (well, sprained ankles were the main issue) when the ground suddenly turned into a staircase in the dark.

      Interactive displays, minimum wage actors and professional video would never have reduced an entire tour group to helpless laughter as we listened to the stories from someone who was there

  38. Jay 2

    Knowledgeable/experienced volunteers a must!

    Some years ago I visted Vulcan XH558 at Bruntingthorpe whilst it was still being rebuilt. My friend and I were in the separate cockpit display that they had and ended up having a chat with an ex-RAF bod who used to do some of the electronic/comms on various Vulcan flights. Very enlightening it was too. It made the experience of seeing a Vulcan a lot more entertaining.

    1. Intractable Potsherd

      Re: Knowledgeable/experienced volunteers a must!

      The Midland Aircraft Museum just outside Coventry has a complete Vulcan you can stand under and go in the cockpit. The guides are excellent, too! My wife was strangely affected to be sat in the seat that held people who would have released the bomb on her home country if the balloon went up ...

      God, I miss being in the Midlands - so much more to do than in Scotland :-(

  39. Javapapa

    The Yanks are coming

    I emailed this article to my wife. it is one more reason for us to raid the piggy bank and head over. Mind you, she's the type of gal who was excited when I phoned her from Chicago's Museum of Science & Tech to tell her I was staring at a four rotor Enigma.

    In a way, not only is the overall museum a memorial to those WWII workers, but the fact we are amiably chatting in English is also a memorial. Verstehen Sie mich?

  40. Fiddler on the roof

    same crap different location.

    Actors? I think they mean minimum wage spot ridden kids who have no interest in the history or importance of Bletchley.

    It always makes my skin crawl when people talk about world class attractions, it normally means lots of tacky sh1te in a gift shop that you HAVE to walk through before you can leave. Whatever happened to google getting involved and preserving it for the sake of its importance to the computer industry? I'm sure I read somewhere that they were going to do so.

  41. David_H
    Boffin

    We are the only people that care because ...

    The readers of The Register are the only people who can actually understand how the Bombe works.

    The management just walk in an say "Ah, that looks pretty!"

    1. hplasm
      Thumb Up

      Re: We are the only people that care because ...

      Rather-

      The management just walk in and say "Ah, that looks untidy. Can't you move it somewhere else or get rid of it and get something modern?!"

  42. westlake
    Pint

    Time marches on.

    The "elderly pensioners who made Bletchley Park" aren't going to be around forever.

    The electro-mechanical and vacuum tube technologies enshrined here will recede further and further into the past.

    as will memories of the Second World War.

    The makes the role of the actor --- the presenter or interpreter --- who doesn't know the tech or the history first-hand --- more important and more challenging.

    1. TNMOC peter

      Re: Time marches on.

      But who is best placed to pass on and teach the real history to any reinactors.... not the "suits" but the long standing and knowledgeable veteran volunteers. You don't get rid of the veterans BEFORE you bring in the pantomime mob, you actively engage them to pass on their knowledge over time so when they are unable to continue as volunteers they have laid the foundations for historically accurate enactments, and hopeful other new equally enthusiastic guides as well.

      1. westlake

        Re: Time marches on.

        TNMOC peter:

        You don't get rid of the veterans BEFORE you bring in the pantomime mob, you actively engage them to pass on their knowledge over time...

        I agree that the transition needs to be planned.

        But nostalgia for the days when Bletchley Park was for the geek alone and senior volunteers could carry the full weight of the educational program is misguided.

        1. Intractable Potsherd

          Re: Time marches on.

          "But nostalgia for the days when Bletchley Park was for the geek alone and senior volunteers could carry the full weight of the educational program is misguided."

          Why? What the hell is wrong with having something that requires intelligence, imagination, and a modicum of education to enjoy it? Why in the name of all that is good should everything be dumbed down to the level of the stupidest, attention-challenged, spoiled spawn of a mumsnet blogger?? Have some ambition!!

  43. Flicker

    Me too...

    Like many other commentators here I visited BP last year and found the Colossus and Diplomatic Wireless Service parts by far the most interesting sections - both quirky, manned by real, knowledgeable enthusiasts and bringing the whole place and era alive in a way that no sanitised info-tainment cobblers ever could. I understand that the DWS stuff has now gone (anyone know where??) but most telling was that my opinion was shared by my 16 year old daughter - I guess part of the target demographic for Standon's vision - who found the rest of the place pretty boring and "just like every other museum". What morons like Standon never understand is that aping all of the other trash is a surefire road to oblivion. If he and the trustees had any integrity or gumption they'd realise that the key to BP is that it's DIFFERENT and interesting because of that. If I ever return it will only be to the NMOC...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Me too...

      Unfortunately they don't seem to end up in oblivion - they seem to survive by dragging in coach after coach of school parties, who just need a nicely packaged day out - the same as everywhere else.

    2. Intractable Potsherd

      Re: Me too...

      "...who found the rest of the place pretty boring and "just like every other museum". What morons like Standon never understand is that aping all of the other trash is a surefire road to oblivion."

      I agree with the sentiment about them all being the same - Mrs IP and I no longer visit National Trust properties because of the sheen of corporate sameness over them. We only go to independent places, which are far more interesting and will often have someone from the family who owns the place showing us round. However, there is no shortage of people who go to NT places *because* they know what they are going to get - just like people who go to foreign places and want McDonalds ...

      I worry that more and more people like us are becoming a smaller minority.

  44. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    HLF always fuck things up

    If you get a HLF grant it seems compulsory to stress "education" in your attraction, which never seems to mean exhibits with detailed explanations that you have to read - rather, "interactive exhibits" with no historical significance.

    In 2001 they re-opened Standedge Tunnel (longest canal tunnel in the UK at 3.25miles) on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and created a visitor centre, converting the old tunnel-side building that housed exhibits about the tunnel and canal into a caff. That small building had more of interest that the sodding great mill they converted in to the visitor centre/tunnel boat departure point. The fact that the Standedge Tunnel Visitor Centre claims to be a "quality assured visitor attraction" should tell you all you need to know.

    Whenever I'm visiting somewhere and it all turns a bit "interactive" I look for the HLF sign and invariable find one.

  45. madmalc

    Resign!

    Standen should be replaced by someone with the remit to integrate the National Museum of Computing within Bletchley Park so that the Tunny and Colossus machines can be the star attractions alongside the Bombe rebuild. The Bombe rebuild is in a silly place at the moment - it belongs in a bleedin' hut!

    Whoever replaces Standen should also wholeheartedly approve of the concept of "ramshackle". Lets face it those of us who appreciate the place don't want hoards of visitors getting in the way :-)

  46. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The BP experience

    I visited BP a few years ago for the first time. I was under a bit of time pressure as I had to take a plane from Heathrow, so only had about an hour to do it all. I wanted to see the Colossus and made my way straight from the entrance office to the back where this is housed. I went through a door and interrupted a guy who was talking to a video camera to make a video presentation. He was REALLY upset at being distracted and let of a fair bit of steam, before he banished me alone to the room where the machines are installed. A couple of minutes later another guy appeared to officially open up, and he too was a bit surprised to find me already there only ten minues after BP had opened for the day. After a short explanation he went and talked to the first guy who came back with him, and a profuse apology and a personal tour of the machines and the closed sections of the nascent NMOC followed. The guy at the video camera turned out to be Dr. Tony Sale, who played a huge part in the campaign to stop BP being turned into a housing estate in the late 80s. It was a fascinating tour, and he got something out of it too: When we came to the mobile device exhibit I commented that he was missing the first touch screen mobile phone / PDA. He said "we would love to have one, but can't find one." Ten days lated he received a package with a mint IBM Simon, which I had kept in the cellar for almost ten years. BTW I missed my plane.

    Every one can have an off day, but Dr. Sale had the grace to immediately admit it and turned my frist negative experience into a posistive one that I will never forget. He's probably spinning in his grave right now......

    Incidentally, there is also a great museum of computing in Switzerland http://www.enter-online.ch/

  47. GreyHairedGeezer

    Don't forget the facts

    As mentioned earlier, we need ALL the facts, and and most of them are here:

    http://freelance.halfacree.co.uk/2014/01/disharmony-at-bletchley-park/

    You also need to know that 90 minute tour was too long for most people (feedback proved that), and that the 60 minute tour was not imposed on the volunteer guides, but developed with their full involvement.

    Although change is inevitable, we can see the increase in paid staff and that's not sustainable unless we increase the number of paying guests hugely. And that can only happen if we have something to attract them. So dumbing down is therefore essential....

    1. Intractable Potsherd

      Re: Don't forget the facts

      You have just made the case for the race to the bottom. Well done you.

      With friends like you, who needs enemies?

  48. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Vandals at Bletchley Park

    A response to BP's latest 'statement of facts'.

    In the section 'Fences and Gates' they claim to be 'erecting a fence and gates around the heritage aspect of the Bletchley Park site' clearly implying that those parts of Bletchley Park that are outside of the fence are not part of the heritage aspect. So historic Block H is NOT part of the heritage of the park, the building's machine rooms, presentation in the Tunny room and Colossus itself IS NOT part of the heritage aspect of BP! That is a BP 'fact' so please open your history books and tear out pages 150-240 because it didn't happen and if any of it did, well it wasn't important enough. Some posters on a wall and maybe an entry into the guide book will do.

    They go on to say that the division of Bletchley Park site is for the 'security and protection of the iconic home of the Codebreakers' So again the role of Block H is not recognised. Codebreakers did not go anywhere near Block H, they did not use it for anything important and it does not matter. I think it was used to store some old machines.

    BP is rewriting history with this disgraceful language and it has to be fought inch by inch. Bletchley park as a complete site is the heritage site and an internal sub-division by language or physical fences is a betrayal of Bletchley Park itself, a betrayal of the work done here in WW2 and in particular a betrayal of the work performed in both F Block (original location for Colossus Mk 1 and many other important machines that were part of the industrialisation of code breaking) + Block H and machine rooms that hosted the Colossus computers. This is the thin end of the wedge, it is the same mentality that lost large parts of the original estate, that allowed buildings to be destroyed or left to rot. It is prioritising history according to the needs of a theme park to control visitors.

    F Block was deeply significant in the codebreaking story - in particular the west end close to the disgusting fence that divides the 'good' and 'bad' side of Bletchley Park. Although BT demolished the building a green area remained and (I believe) the original steps into one of the entrances to the very building that hosted the Colossus Mk1. Bletchley Park has shown their respect for this area by gracing it with a car park but don't worry, they pulled up and discarded those original steps and now are merrily planting flower borders. As visitors park their cars on the site of the installation of the world's first computer, at least they can smell the roses.

    BP are airbrushing history. They are reducing Block H to some pictures on boards alongside a Nazi swastika. They are fencing out a great British achievement but hosting the US McAfee at the other end of the park. They must be resisted at all costs - Block H, the automation of codebreaking and that impact on the development of computing must not be lost by these fools and vandals.

    Concerning visitors to BP - Bletchley Park says in its 'facts' that it has concern for its '...ever growing number of visitors which include the elderly..'

    If the gate remains, a BP elderly visitor could come to the gate, peer through and 'see' Block H, but if they want to know more they will have to walk all the way down to the Block C reception, exit the 'historic aspect' of the park into the rain-soaked barren cold and dark 'also rans' part of the Park and then walk all the way back up to Block H? Surely anyone with any real interest in the Park couldn't possible assume this to be fair to their visitors and fair to those who worked at Block H and gave as much to the work to bring a world war to an end as anyone working in a wooden hut.

  49. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Before its too late

    Someone should fund an oral history project recording all the volunteer histories, They are going to disappear and be mourned terribly, Before they do they should be cherished and sustained. That Tony Carroll was punished in front of media because his work was especially praised on Trip Advisor is a heavily ironic thing,

  50. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I recently used the BP website contact form to ask about visiting BP to see Colossus working (I'd heard it is operational but not all the time). No reply. Now I know why.

  51. Matthew Collier
    WTF?

    e-petition

    Seems like the e-petition could do with some more signatories:

    http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/59686

This topic is closed for new posts.