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Bletchley Park Faces Financial Rescue

Posted by timothy on from the admirable-work-deserves-commemoration dept.

biscuitfever11 writes "Just two months ago it seemed that Bletchley Park, the home of Station X, Britain's secret code-breaking base during the War, was doomed as the codebreakers' huts rotted and the site fell into disrepair. But today Britain's Lottery Fund is set to step in with a grant to rescue the ailing heritage site. (There was an earlier story on ZDNet.)"

8 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. doesn't solve all the problems by thermian · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This won't solve the one big issue facing Bletchley, that of the site having very low appeal to visitors.

    As much as they might wish it to be otherwise, a collection of huts (one of which is now a tea room, ah yes, nice treatment of history there guys...), a house, some vintage cars and a few cluttered rooms of junk that pass for 'exhibits' just doesn't appeal to people these days.

    And yes, they really do look like rooms full of junk for the most part, sad to say, the presentation of their exhibits is not good at all.

    Oh, and the reconstructed Collossus? It's just there, in the middle of a room, with barely any information top help kids or the otherwise uninformed relate to it.

    Not that the site isn't ok to visit. If you're into WW2 stuff then its probably worth a look, but if you've got kids they will be bored out of their tiny minds all day.

    --
    A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
    1. Re:doesn't solve all the problems by thermian · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I went last year and the Collossus was on its own, switched off, with only a small panel of text. Perhaps they've improved that part, or perhaps its not on every day.

      What I did see was a lot of bored kids faces, and my son had no interest whatsoever, even though I tried to engage him.

      The stuff I found interesting took less than an hour to see, after which it was try and get interested in what remained on the site to get my money's worth.

      It's not that they aren't trying, its just that its not that interesting unless you already know something of the history. It most certainly isn't managing to compete as a venue for visitors, or it wouldn't have got into fiscal trouble to start with.

      --
      A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
    2. Re:doesn't solve all the problems by thefon · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I went there about two years ago, it was fascinating. I _liked_ how the exhibits are mostly "as is". Too many museums try to look cool, but I'm there to see the history, not a rock concert. The guides and lectures told me a lot about the history and mathematics, some smart and interesting people. The whole place is a /. mecca!

  2. A happy ending by damburger · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I am glad these historic buildings have been saved - the disrespect they had been shown drew uncomfortable parallels with what happened to Alan Turing after the war (a war which almost certainly wouldn't have been won without him)

    --
    If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
  3. But who will save the UK IT industry? by Kupfernigk · · Score: 2, Interesting
    You wouldn't believe we were once world leaders in the field.

    I'm sorry, but if the nest we can do is Rockstar (not knocking them, just being realistic) then will the last systems designer in the UK please turn off the server before emigrating? Fortunately, I expect to retire in a couple of years. Hopefully to somewhere where Government and other systems work.

    Slightly off topic, today we discovered that the UK Government new release of the on-line tax system shows the accountant name, not the actual person for whom the form is being filled in. The guy on the help desk, when asked when it would be fixed, replied "I am not at liberty to disclose that". Not only is UK Government IT incompetent, it is secretive about it. (The Editor of Computer Weekly said that on the box last week.) So

    --
    From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
  4. Culture by Morosoph · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There's certainly an irony in using lottery income to fund culture.

    But there's a bigger issue here: whether culture has intrinsic value, and whether it is worth raising people up. If we fund education for its effect in raising the consciousness of the population, we should also fund culture out of general taxation. All the same, given that the lottery fund is used for cultural promotion, Bletchley Park has a pretty good claim on a slice of that funding.

    One almost wonders whether lottery funding is part of a deliberate attempt to degrade ("democratise") culture.

    Raising the consciousness of the population cannot easily be argued either from a democratic position, nor a capitalist one, and justifications for it in terms of appreciation after the fact are too easily misused in other contexts, except for one thing: culture has a long track record. Additionally, culture works by extending people, unlike more political 'fixes' of limiting people in a manner that politicians deem to be good.

    The antigony of culture with political ideas, together with the degrading effects of democratic "philsophical" relativism is hostile not only to the recognition of culture, but also to its very existence.

    Without such things as culture and the abstract search for truth, our purpose on this earth is no more than the propagation of our genes (for an atheist), or else is a waste of the talents that have been entrusted to us (for a theist).

    --
    Wikileaks, no DNS
  5. Re:Ahh the lottery to the rescue by BPPG · · Score: 2, Interesting

    No, the choice is still there. It's a psychological thing, make them think one choice is better than the other.

    Kind of like making them think they're choosing whether to cross a desert or jump into a beer fountain full of hot babes and fruit. But it's a kind of environmental thing too. If there were a "smart" lottery, where only smart people could get a ticket, you'd have a different opinion of it than a "poor-tax" lottery.

    --
    What's the value of information that you don't know?
  6. Fun day trip from London by MinusOne · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I visited Bletchley Park a couple of years ago while on a trip to England. it was an easy day trip from London. The site is a very short walk from the train station, so no driving or bus is necessary to get there. It was a beautiful spring day when we were there and the grounds are quite lovely. They had the Colossus replica running which was very cool. The museum is quite nice as well. Later that night I met up for beers with some guys from my company's London office. They were shocked that we had made a day trip to Milton Keynes until we told them why we went. Apparently Londoners think of the area as a bit of a suburban wasteland.
    I also got some cool semi-psychedelic pictures caused by a malfunctioning sensor in my digital camera.

    I definitely recommend it as a place to visit if you have an afternoon in the greater London area.