Brit academics call for Bletchley Park funding

A group of esteemed British scientists and academics have sent an open letter calling on the British government to give more financial support to Bletchley Park, the site of the Allied WWII codebreaking effort and the birthplace of modern computing.

They say Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, should be put on a secure financial basis like other "great museums"...
Many of the buildings on the Bletchley estate were in a state of serious disrepair, she said. One building, where code-breakers worked during World War II, was falling apart, said Dr Black, and was protected by a blue tarpaulin that was nailed down over it.
Describing Bletchley as a "gem", Dr Black said it was a "national disgrace" that such a historic site was being allowed to fall into ruin.

"I do not know why they do not have funding as a national museum," she said.

Link (Thanks to Amanda and all the other people who suggested this!)

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Absent

Surely the Heritage Lottery Fund could through a few million at it.
Paul

They should make Bletchley Park part of either the Science Museum, or the Imperial War Museum, both of which are excellent institutions, and both would do a great job of presenting the material and the site well, although with an obvious difference in viewpoint.
Anonymous

There’s a petition for state funding for Bletchley Park at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/BletchleyPark/: 6,200 signatures so far. Sign it!
ZippySpincycle

Just finishing up my first read of Cryptonomicon, so this post is, as the kittehs say, relevant to my interests.

Could someone recommend a really good biography of Turing?
insomma

Good for them. I hope to see it one day.
Antinous

good opportunity for that young, gay computer science Turing scholarship.

And force me to watch another bad romantic comedy about a straight guy who pretends to be gay in order to get some benefit?
Takuan

typical genitocentric womyn oppresor
chatirygirl

Thanks for posting about this, and for the great post all about visiting Bletchley. My granny worked there during the war, probably due to her crossword skills and I hope to visit it one day.
proto

Zippy -

‘Alan Turing: The Enigma’ by Andrew Hodges. About 500 pages. Get the UK version if you can find it. There’s an Americanized paperback with the same text but without references and source notes.
jlborghead

@Absent: If I remember correctly, the Heritage Lottery turned them down because they were ineligible.
gregb666

don’t know if you all heard it today but there was a report on BBC about it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7523000/7523038.stm
Takuan

good opportunity for that young, gay computer science Turing scholarship.