Neighbours give Bletchley a cash lifeline

Site of Allied wartime code-breaking operations receives £600,000 boost

Bletchley Park, site of the code-breaking efforts of Allied Forces in the Second World War, has been granted a funding lifeline after residents in Milton Keynes answered a challenge from English Heritage.

The Buckinghamshire mansion, which some historians credit as being the birthplace of the modern computer, needed extra cash for the "essential backlog of maintenance and urgent repairs".

In November last year English Heritage awarded the centre £300,000 for repairs to its roof and demanded a similar expression of commitment from other organisations.

Simon Thurley, the chief executive of English Heritage, said: "When we announced our initial £300,000 grant last year for urgent roof repairs to the Grade II-listed mansion, I laid down the gauntlet by pledging another £100,000 each year over three years if matching funding could be found.

"Bletchley Park is of enormous historical importance and played a vital role in the Allies winning the Second World War. A large part of the activity that secured the freedom that Europe now enjoys took place here, and this is why English Heritage is so keen to help."

The failure of appeals last year to both the National Lottery and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation prompted Milton Keynes Council to conduct a public consultation with local residents. The council was inundated with pledges of support, with 73 per cent backing a contribution to the preservation of the site – which otherwise may have been bulldozed and replaced with a shopping centre or housing estate.

The £600,000 boost will be used to renovate the mansion, now converted into a military museum alongside the National Museum of Computing, and preserve for antiquity the rooms and equipment used during the war. Fundraisers are still looking for several million pounds for further restoration, but greeted news of the council's lifeline with enthusiasm.

"The impact of Bletchley Park on the Second World War was absolutely enormous," said Simon Greenish, director of the Bletchley Park Trust. "There is no other site in the world where the impact on the war was greater than here. Historians say that Bletchley Park shortened the war by at least two years and historians are notoriously cautious about what they say."

The mansion was home to many of Britain's finest minds, as well as a machine named Colossus Mark II, reputed to be the world's first computer.

At the height of the war, code-breakers interrupted the encrypted, personal messages of Adolf Hitler. One message in particular, in which the Führer revealed that he considered the D-day invasion simply a cover to conceal a bigger invasion elsewhere, proved decisive in securing Allied victory. America's wartime President, Franklin Roosevelt, posted several of the best minds in the US to Bletchley, where UK agents worked on German ciphers while Americans concentrated on those from Japan.

Bletchley Park's central place in computing history prompted the electronics firm IBM and the encryption firm PGP to donate £57,000 to the site last year.



To make a donation to Bletchley Park, visit www.savingbletchleypark.org

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Top stories
News in pictures
World news in pictures
UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
More stories
       
Independent
Travel Shop
Imperial Cities of Morocco
Seven nights half-board from only £799pp Find out more
Historic Sicily
Seven nights half-board from £799pp Find out more
4* all-inclusive Crete
Seven nights from only £399pp Find out more
Independent Dating
and  

By clicking 'Search' you
are agreeing to our
Terms of Use.

Day In a Page

Johnny Marr talks relationships and reunions

He's worked with Modest Mouse, the Pet Shop Boys and Beck, to name a few, and recently released his first solo album. So why, wonders Johnny Marr, do people still hark on about The Smiths?
After the flood: From Haiti to Britain, one man has captured the devastation of our increasingly deluged lands

In pictures: After the flood

From Haiti to Britain, one man has captured the devastation of our increasingly deluged lands
Death becomes her: Meet the very modern mortician who champions 'cool' funerals

Death becomes her: A very modern mortician

Ever considered baking a loved one's remains into a cake or putting their ashes in fireworks? If so, talk to Caitlin Doughty, champion of the alternative death industry.
How long can the 'Keep Calm' trend carry on?

How long can the 'Keep Calm' trend carry on?

At first it seemed clever and cute. Then the 'Keep Calm' motif went mad, spawning endless offshoots.
The man who built Brum: A lament for the demise of John Madin's Brutalist Birmingham

John Madin: The man who built Brum

The architect's buildings were supposed to leave an indelible, futuristic mark on his beloved hometown but they are now being inexorably torn down.
School of chop: Learning the art of butchery at the Ginger Pig

School of chop: Learning the art of butchery

How do you butcher a lamb? Or make Mexican street food in a British kitchen? Christopher Hirst finds out.
James Pembroke: The man who's eaten everywhere

The man who's eaten everywhere

Few people know more about restaurants than James Pembroke, who only spent five mealtimes at home during his entire childhood.
A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

The young JFK praised 'superior' Nordic races during visits to Germany
Banned Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof to attend Cannes Film Festival 2013, his first public appearance since prison

Banned Iranian director to attend Cannes Film Festival

Mohammad Rasoulof to make his first public appearance since being imprisoned three years ago
Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

An exhibition explores images how photography has shaped astronomy
Eat Spam and carry on: Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating

Eat Spam and carry on

Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating
Facial hair: Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence

Facial hair

Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence
The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

Whether they're for everyday use or to make your dining table look just right, it's worth getting a stylish shaker...
Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Chief executive says trophies will come if a 'core' of suitable players is in place
Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

The Bayern Munich forward tells Tim Rich his side have to shed chokers' tag after two recent final defeats