November 2017
Friday, 17th November 2017
We’ve been taking a long weekend in England, staying with my daughter and son-in-law, just south east of London. And since they were able to take a long weekend too, we all went for an outing.
Bletchley Park
It’s been on my to-do-list for many years, but today we managed it: a visit to Bletchley park, about fifty miles north west of London.
It’s a large 19th century set in large ornamental grounds, like many other houses of its kind in the UK. But it was here during the Second World War that history was made.
Apart from the elegant house shown in the photo, there are also a large number of military style huts, and in those huts a whole army of people worked around the clock, listening in to enemy radio messages in morse code. The aim was to follow the movements of enemy troops, but of course the German authorities were careful to encode the messages using an elaborate system called Enigma.
Not only was the code extremely complex, but the German forces changed the code settings each day at midnight.
Several brilliant minds were brought together to try and crack the code.
It’s a large 19th century set in large ornamental grounds, like many other houses of its kind in the UK. But it was here during the Second World War that history was made.
Apart from the elegant house shown in the photo, there are also a large number of military style huts, and in those huts a whole army of people worked around the clock, listening in to enemy radio messages in morse code. The aim was to follow the movements of enemy troops, but of course the German authorities were careful to encode the messages using an elaborate system called Enigma.
Not only was the code extremely complex, but the German forces changed the code settings each day at midnight.
Several brilliant minds were brought together to try and crack the code.
Alan Turing
The best known of the experts was mathematician Alan Turing, who conceived and built a machine which could break the codes many times more efficiently than human codebreakers.
The story of Alan Turing and the people he worked with is told in the 2012 film The Imitation Game - well worth seeing, if you haven’t already done so.
The codebreaking machine developed by Turing and his colleagues is thought to have put an early end to the war and saved many lives.
The story of Alan Turing and the people he worked with is told in the 2012 film The Imitation Game - well worth seeing, if you haven’t already done so.
The codebreaking machine developed by Turing and his colleagues is thought to have put an early end to the war and saved many lives.
Alan Turing worked in this dimly-lit office.
Saturday, 18th November 2017
This morning we went for a walk in the woods near Petts Wood (where my daughter and son-in-law live). At one point we were surprised to come across a sundial in a clearing amongst the trees. The sundial was put there in 1927 to honour the memory of one of Petts Wood’s most famous residents: William Willett.
It was William Willett who campaigned for Daylight Saving in the UK. If you don’t know what daylight saving is, try reading the article I wrote about it in 2014.
Click here to read Spring forward: fall back
It was William Willett who campaigned for Daylight Saving in the UK. If you don’t know what daylight saving is, try reading the article I wrote about it in 2014.
Click here to read Spring forward: fall back
Piglet
We also spotted this character beside the woodland path in Petts Wood. Remind you of anyone?
Front page story
Look back to 1665: the Plague Year
Contact
If you’re interested in English lessons or translation and checking services, please feel free to contact me in the language of your choice - English, French, German or even Lingala!
Here are my details:
Here are my details:
Mobile
078 609 56 51
+41 78 609 56 51
+41 78 609 56 51
Location
Tödistrasse 9, 8634 Hombrechtikon
(New address from 24th March 2018)
(New address from 24th March 2018)
If you are travelling from Rüti / Wolfhausen, drive past the Hombrechtikon place-name sign for about 300 metres and turn right into Tödistrasse, just before the Tobel bus stop.
Approaching from Hombrechtikon
If you are approaching from the centre of Hombrechtikon, follow the signs to Rüti. At the Tobel junction (the Methodist Church is on the left) turn left. Tödistrasse is the next turning on the left, just past the Tobel bus stop.
The entrance to our new flat is about 100 metres from the junction with Rütistrasse, on the left-hand side of the road.
The house number is number 9 and we are on the first floor.
There are a few visitor’s parking bays a short distance beyond the entrance, on the left.
There are a few visitor’s parking bays a short distance beyond the entrance, on the left.
Arriving by bus
If you arrive by bus from Bubikon, get off the bus at Tobel and follow Tödiweg until you get to Tödistrasse. Our house is on the right.