Adventures in International Education

Many of my interests came together during the trip to Bletchley Park. This location, a 30-mile train ride from London, was the scene for code breaking, espionage and innovative scientific thinking during World War II.

Stories in the displays talk of double agents and life in cold, dark rooms to decipher messages from the Germans and Japanese. Through it all is the work of Alan Turing, who created computing as we know it today through his meticulous and mindful approach to problem solving. (The British Government did not treat Turing kindly after the war. More recently, the Queen issued a posthumous pardon and the Bank of England plans to issue a £50 note bearing Turing’s image.)

Women played a significant roles in codebreaking, taking concepts of mathematical reasoning and making them work in practical ways, using some of the earliest forms of computational tools, which required significantly more personal attention than today’s versions. 

I realized that I’d left the crowds in London. Couples and families made up the visitors and everyone had an interest in Bletchley.  The mansion offered an opportunity for children to color and think while parents wandered through the rooms and relived what life was like in the 1940s. The nicest part of the day revolved around a folding fabric chair on the lawn, which gave me key view of the visitors and a trip back in time when young people lived and worked at Bletchley.

Fortunately, I could appreciate the quiet, relaxed nature of the place without the triple shifts and intense effort required to break codes. Besides the obvious historical significance, Bletchley proved a magical, relaxing place, framed by a pleasant train ride at each end of the day.