What an absolute travesty! It is surely very important not only in terms of its contribution to WW2 but also for its role in technological advancement. I suspect Mr Gates might have had a slightly different view if it were in the States!
On a recent visit, I was also convinced that, had this been in America, it would be given the financial assistance worthy of its place in history. Roxy
I still cannot believe that the managers of the Bill Gates Foundation can find no criteria to support Bletchley Park with funding.
The National Lottery Fund It was some years ago that the Lottery funded the National Opera House to the tune of 83 million. Since that time many other minority interests have had such funding. I feel we should Lobby our M.Ps. on the issue. I will write to mine today!
Bill Gates Perhaps the Bill Gates Foundation don't realise where their Country's Computer Industry has it's roots. "Colossus"
I read about this as well. Living in Seattle I would be happy to go over to Bill's house and talk it up, but I don't think they would allow me through security. Gates & Bloomberg are however spending $375m to fight smoking. I'm sure there were a lot of cig's burnt trying to break the codes, maybe it would qualify under that! (Gates, Bloomberg pool riches to fight smoking | Health Link | KING5.com | News for Seattle, Washington)
Milton Keynes seems to be spreading in every direction. I see a real danger in Bletchley Park just being swallowed up to fulfill the commitment to built thousands of new houses in this area. It would be fitting not only to preserve the place but to utilise part of the grounds maybe as a University for some of the best, brightest radical free thinkers of the ilk of Turin and his peers.
Maybe we should start at the beginning and re-educate people .... !! the younger generation just aren't "aware" ( except for a few ) ... maybe it's too late to teach them ... but I believe if there was a "blitz" on the internet ( not just newspapers !! ) on what Bletchley really means to the British people ... it might have an effect ! Bletchley Park Trust - Fenny Stratford Repeater Station Annie
My thoughts exactly. Ten million pound is really not that much in the great scheme of things. Does the government up there have cotton wool in its ears? :frusty:
Save Bletchley Park: Why I'm ashamed to be British Save Bletchley Park: Why I'm ashamed to be British - Telegraph Save Bletchley Park: Why I'm ashamed to be British Bletchley Park is an example of British brains at its best and we must act to preserve it, writes Sue Black. Doesn?t that make you proud to be British? Have you heard of Bletchley Park? It’s just north of London, where more than ten thousand men and women worked during WW2 to decode messages sent between the German forces, most notably by Hitler, and the German high command. The cracking of the codes, the use of the intelligence gained and the subsequent related actions of the Allies is said to have shortened WW2 by two years possibly saving an estimated 22 million lives. Bletchley Park is also the birthplace of the computer. The world's first programmable, digital, electronic computer, Colossus, was invented and built by Tommy Flowers and his team at Bletchley Park and Dollis Hill during World War Two. It automated a critical part of the process of deciphering encrypted German messages. If all that work, carried out by thousands of dedicated people for years on end, had not happened many of us would not be here now. Thousands of us today had relatives working at Bletchley Park: many of us may not know it due to the Official Secrets Act, fortunately some of us do. Bletchley Park needs sustained government funding to preserve it. But then of course we’re in an economic downturn - so how could the government afford it? Well, here’s a comparison. In the short term Bletchley Park needs £10 million, which is a pittance compared to how many millions, or is it billions now, that have recently been given to the banks? And how much more than the original estimate is being spent by us on the Olympics? In Canberra, Australia, there stands the Australian War Memorial which is a place that every Australian citizen visits at least once in their lifetime to get an appreciation of the contribution made by Australians to the war effort. In California stands the Computer History Museum a national museum of great importance that is treasured by US citizens. The UK equivalent of these museums is Bletchley Park and the National Museum of Computing which is housed there. Bletchley Park is an example of British brains and British thinking at its best. Have we no national pride? Is the UK government ashamed of British achievements? Where is our debt of gratitude for the efforts of so many to achieve so much? In Britain we can’t even manage to preserve what we have. This is why I’m ashamed to be British. I hope you are too. Dr Sue Black is Head of Department of Information and Software Systems at the University of Westminster. She blogs about saving Bletchley Park here.
It really is a disgrace. The building is falling into disrepair and the local feeling is that they are waiting for it to go too far and then the developers will move in (which will also fulfill Prescott's commitment). My husband had work that he did in the sixties stored in the computer library in Paris because it was considered so innovative. Why not here? We never seem to appreciate our home grown brain power do we?
