Lancaster bombers, Enigma machines and Jack Schofield…

I’ve just spent a fascinating day at Bletchley Park’s Annual Enigma Reunion and as a bonus managed to snap the Lancaster bomber that flew over at 3:15 on my crappy phone camera.  A brilliant day, lots of extra exhibits in various marquees dotted around the site including some excellent reenactors who amongst other things recreated RAF Bomber Command complete with Ops tables, maps and the equivalent of today’s pushpin markers.

I also took the opportunity to visit the co-sited Computer History Museum and saw an alarming number of computer’s I’d owned in the past including a Z88, Epson HX-20, ZX81 & BBC B!  Curiously as I walked in I spotted the Guardian’s Jack Schofield who was also visiting, one of the few journalist’s I’ve always had a lot of time for over the years even causing me to buy the Guardian every Thursday.  (Jack very kindly ran a small piece in the Guardian about AX.25 Packet Radio for a user group I’d helped found back in the 80′s)

Well worth a visit, a tenner gives you 12 month’s unlimited access to the Bletchley Park Museums and Exhibitions.  From what I can tell the site is pretty much run by volunteers and funded by public donations supplemented with a grant from English Heritage which is matched by Milton Keynes Council though finances are still very much on a knife edge.

further reading…

Audioboo posts from Bletchley..

Capt. Jerry Roberts at Google