It is amazing to think that it is already a fortnight since we moved into The Mansion at Bletchley Park. It has certainly been an eventful couple of weeks. Our grateful thanks to everyone involved in helping us to prepare and move – particularly to Xpress Relocation who had to carry our library of books about high learning potential up several flights of stairs; the downside to moving into the Mansion for them was no lift!
We are beginning to get to know our neighbours, helped slightly by the fire alarm on July 3rd – it wasn’t the new tenants at Potential Plus UK – honestly! The Mansion and surrounding buildings aren’t just the home of the Museum of Bletchley Park and its the codebreakers – there is also the National Museum of Computing and a number of businesses who operate from its premises.
It is also the home of many unusual events, as we found out on July 3rd, when, walking into work, Julie came across an unusual van. Within the van were pigeons getting ready to start on the Lords v Commons annual Pigeon Race being run by the Royal Pigeon Racing Association. In this race, raising funds for the Royal British Legion, each pigeon is designated to a member of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. The race ceased in 1928 and only started up again last year. Once released, the pigeons flew 120 miles to Yorkshire. This year the winner was: Labour peer, Lord Clive Soley.
Don’t be fooled by the lovely image of deckchairs – we haven’t had time to actually sit out and enjoy the sunshine yet. Andrea and Radhika have been especially busy, as you can see in our Congratulations blog for their masters degrees! Fingers crossed we’ll get to the deckchairs sometime soon, but in the meantime why not experience Bletchley Park for yourselves by joining us for Operation Squirrel on August 10th?
Yesterday the Bank of England announced that Alan Turing will be the new face of the £50 note, due out in 2021. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48962557 The mathematician, best known for his work on code breaking machines at Bletchley Park, is considered one of the fathers of computing and artificial intelligence. Turing beat 11 other shortlisted scientists to this honour, including Ada Lovelace, Charles Babbage and Stephen Hawking. This slate sculpture of Turing is one of the highlights of visiting Bletchley Park.
We look forward to welcoming donations of Turing notes to the Scholarship Fund! However, if you would like to donate before 2021, please call us on 01908 646433, email amazing.children@potentialplusuk.org or donate via https://www.paypal.com/gb/fundraiser/charity/66164 Thank you.
About the Author: Geraldine Glover is Potential Plus UK’s Community Information Coordinator. She is a Chartered Information Professional with a background in editorial work and information science. She is the mother of two children with high learning potential.
