The restoration effort at Bletchley Park has gone over the top. I visited the place on a weekday in 2002, when almost nobody went there unless they were really into crypto history. It was run down, and there were only about 10 people visiting that day. The tour guide was more into the architecture of the mansion than the crypto, although they had a bombe model (a prop made for a 2001 movie) and had started on the Colossus rebuild. The only thing that worked back then was one Enigma machine. A non-working Lorenz machine and some other gear was in glass cases. The guide pointed out where various of the huts had been. It was just one of those obscure, slightly run down historical spots one visits in England, with the usual lake and swans.
Then they got National Lottery funding. Now they've rebuild most of the huts in brick, re-landscaped the grounds, have elaborate displays, added the "National Museum of Computing", renamed it "Historic Bletchley Park", put in a visitor's center, a children's playground, a cafe, and, of course, a gift shop. There's "Turing Gate" "Colossus Way", "Enigma Place", two memorials, and more stuff under construction.
All this is on the Bletchley Park side. The Colossus rebuild is at the National Museum of Computing, which is on the same property but has separate staff and funding. (http://www.tnmoc.org/) They don't get along with the Bletchley Park tourist operation and don't have public funding. ("Other exhibitions are available at Bletchley Park, but operated independently of the Bletchley Park Trust.", says the Trust site.)
Not sure whether "over the top" was meant as a complaint; I visited last summer, and thought the (obviously expensive) displays were pretty effective. The main grounds of the museum (the "tourist operation") also now has a bunch of interesting working replica gear, including a Bombe and some of its less publicized support equipment.
The computing museum is also interesting; BTW, in addition to the Colossus rebuild, they're also constructing a working EDSAC replica (using metallic delay lines instead of mercury tanks for memory, but otherwise as exact as possible), and have a bunch of other interesting old machines in the collection. For visit planning, though, it's open fewer days than the Trust-managed property.
I know this is possibly the saddest thing anyone has ever said, but the computing museum is one of my favourite places on earth.
It's a joyful place with so much old technology yet a refreshingly hands on attitude. I don't think there was a single exhibit that wasn't interactive by one method or another - which really matters when you're talking about technology that is largely at an age where kids are too young to have grown up with so it gives them a chance to play with the predecessors to their much loved consumer hardware - and it gives us adults a chance to do more than just reminisce about the fun days experimenting with emerging technologies.
I'd highly recommend that museum on it's own merit; let alone spending the day exploring the site and Bletchly Park as well.
On the subject of early technology I highly recommend 'The Centre for Computing History' in Cambridge. They have a good collection and a lovely atmosphere.
They're currently located in an industrial estate in Cambridge, I'm sure if/when they move they will get much more attention.
Mercury delay lines are literally tanks of liquid, which are prone to leaks, sometimes without warning. Dangerous anywhere, particularly ill-suited to a museum kids may visit.
As to architectural properties, the main thing that they want out of them is that they delay signals by the same number of microseconds; arranging that is not a problem.
I went just before the lottery funding (2009 i think?). The national museum of computing was reasonably new - obviously the intended purpose was to attract more people and stop it falling down. The split was successful in this way. I appreciated both sides - bletchley park was a lot more history (with volunteers who could tell you more about it than you needed) and the NMC had old consoles set up playing games, amongst the rebuilt WWII stuff. Best museum ive (group) i b e been to anywhere. Im happy they are getting more funding though of course the quality will gradually decrease.
Really neat to hear it's being restored; a bit saddened that it's being done through a regressive tax though. Ideally the problems with that model will be recognized and workable alternative funding sources can come into effect.
But other forms of gambling are not? The bookies? The slot machines in the pub? Online poker?
I don't see why the lottery (which is the only gambling that has any measurable positive impact on society) deserves to be singled out. Or is it that the positive impact that makes it a tax, instead of just a way of [company k] making profits.
While I don't buy, I think if someone does so with disposable income, I don't see a problem. Honestly I could even see some people might even enjoy the process of buying a lottery ticket so they might actually be getting a value back for every ticket.
> You can't spend the time dreaming you'll win it, if you don't buy a ticket.
I think this statement is more key to a lot of things than people realize. You can never be lucky if you don't take chances. People often like to defend gambles they take in life by using expected returns/risks as a premise that they are making an "informed risk". At the end of the day, however, buying stocks, creating a business, starting a new job, etc, are all gambles.
>put in a visitor's center, a children's playground, a cafe, and, of course, a gift shop.
That's pretty standard. Most of those are profit centers as well. That 10 dollar turkey sandwich has a massive markup. Frankly, its weird to go to a tourist venue that doesn't have some level of merchandising. I don't see Bletchley as some holy ground where these kinds of things defile it. Perhaps people need to have more realistic ideas of what a tourist destination means.
We visited in early January 2012 - was a spontaneous decision, and one we're grateful we did (especially having now watched The Imitation Game, which was even more enjoyable for having been there and heard the history).
Colossus was running by that point (we made a separate donation), but most of the extras you've mentioned are clearly new. Certainly glad to know it's not going to crumble into obscurity anytime soon.
Then they got National Lottery funding. Now they've rebuild most of the huts in brick, re-landscaped the grounds, have elaborate displays, added the "National Museum of Computing", renamed it "Historic Bletchley Park", put in a visitor's center, a children's playground, a cafe, and, of course, a gift shop. There's "Turing Gate" "Colossus Way", "Enigma Place", two memorials, and more stuff under construction.
All this is on the Bletchley Park side. The Colossus rebuild is at the National Museum of Computing, which is on the same property but has separate staff and funding. (http://www.tnmoc.org/) They don't get along with the Bletchley Park tourist operation and don't have public funding. ("Other exhibitions are available at Bletchley Park, but operated independently of the Bletchley Park Trust.", says the Trust site.)