Click here to save Bletchley Park

Those among you who feel strongly that the government should intervene to save Bletchley Park for the nation are invited to sign an e-petition aimed at prompting just such action. The petition states: "Please do not allow this crucial piece of both British and World culture to disappear. If ever an example were needed of …

[Anonymous Coward]

Why so long?

Why do folks always put such long petition time scales on these things? May 2009?

[Anonymous Coward]

Reg readers unite.

I suggest a reg version of the swear box.

Every time someone posts a lame, unamusing, banal, witless or downright tedious comment just as an excuse to use the irritating 'get my coat' icon, they have to donate a tenner to bletchley park. We will all raise the money in no time.

On another note regmods - can we have a /. equivalent of the mod -1 so that we can filter out the getmecoat gags?

[Tim Spence]

RE: Why so long?

So that they can get as many people to vote as possible, one would have thought?

Or, I wonder if the May 2009 is 12 months on from whenever Bletchley Park announced they had about 1 year of financing left?

[Darren Poulson]

Worth a visit

If anyone hasn't been yet, go! This place is a fantastic place to visit for anyone. Its not just about computers and cryptography, there is one person's entire Churchill collection which fills a rather large room, and a cinema containing early projectors and memoribilia.

[Anonymous Coward]

When will people learn?

>"Please do not allow this crucial piece of both British and World culture to disappear..."

That will be about as effective as would have been a petition to the Taliban not to destroy the Bamiyan Buddahs.

[Simon]

Muppets

Can I point out to whoever designed the donation site that if you want to maximise the amount of money receive then requiring people to 'sign up' to your site and provide all of their personal details may not be the smartest move.

I was quite happy to chuck a few quid their way, but I don't want to have to make up another username/password, fill out an enormous form and get more spam as a thankyou.

[Jason Bloomberg]

So goodbye Bletchly Park then

The only thing results I've ever had come back from such an e-petition is some smug Government response which completely ignores the point raised, turns it on its head, then says they're going to whatever it was they planned to do ( or not ) anyway.

The only good e-petition would be to call for the scrapping of the e-petitions site.

[Richard Hayes]

Involvment with Bletchley

I couldn't agree more! My dad has spent the last 6 or more years helping a team rebuild Colossus (The WWII Lorenz decryption computer) and is a massive part of British history!!

[John Macintyre]

can't wait

for the govt autobots to respond with a 'we thank you millions of voters for voting on this, but as you've used our own e-petition system we'll just ignore you and slap you in the face for trying. this petition is closed, we're the best, you're a loser. thank you, old Gordie'

[Iain]

Good

I am glad to see this petition already at 7500 signatures.

My grandfather worked there during the war and I have visited it twice. It would be wonderful venue for a proper computing/technology museum and I really encourage anyone who has read this story to sign the petition.

As for the long timescale for the petition, I hope that means the number of signatures is maximised. There was a recent petition regarding a local issue I was interested in, only ran for two weeks so didn't cull even a quarter of the number of signatures it should have.

On another note this is not just a UK issue, although they cannot sign it I would encourage our American (and other countries) to show support in some way (Facebook group?). The work at Bletchley in decoding Enigma (despite what disgusting lying hollywood shits may want you to believe) saved a lot of American ships from being sunk by U-Boats.

[b]

Not wishing to put a downer on things...

but using the governments E-petition page is about as effectual as flicking meringues into a black hole. While Gordon Brown pisses in your face. And laughs.

[Law]

Now are 8,199 signatures! :)

Might start the petition to have our government relinquish control of the country to the Royals for a period of time until they learn how to run a country without screwing over it's citizens on a daily basis.... wonder what response we will have from that one! :)

Flames - because that's what the government would like to do to all our national treasures if they stand to make more money from doing so!

[Steve Foster]

Practical Solution is...

...to make a visit to Bletchley Park.

I went last sunday and I'm glad I did. Well worth the £13 (incl. parking), and the entry fee works as an annual pass for return visits (eg the computing musem was only partially open).

As has been mentioned, there's more than just Enigma and the war codebreaking effort.

Sunday seems to be about the best day to visit (not all parts of BP are open during the week [being volunteer run], and the Mansion is often booked for events on saturdays).

[Luke]

Great Britain

They should make it a heritage site and the goverment should do everything within its power to preserve Bletchley for future generations of proud British subjects.

In the scope of things it would cost them nothing to save Bletchley and the memory of all the brilliant work that was done there, work which saved countless thousands of lives and possible this country from being ruled by the Germans.

In fact, fuck it. Europe should pay for the place to be kept as it's thanks to us they're not all goosestepping down the street. Take the cash of the french farmers, the cash Britain gives every year!

Rule Britannia!

Paris, because if given the chance Gordo would rather shaft the country over Miss. Hilton.

[Dave Jones]

Who needs a bunch of huts ?

Face it, temporary huts are just that. Let them go the way of all such things. Shift all the technology to one of the museums equipped to handle it. Let the old house go back to being an old house. I'm tired of hearing that this brick or that paving stone deserves preservation just because something happened to happen in its general vicinity.

[Luke]

re: who needs a bunch of huts

Dave Jones you can keep cretinous fucking comments like that to yourself. You Gordo's best fukkin pal or something. Socialist like you should be locked up.

Hello my name is Dave, lets empty all the old stately homes and palaces like Buckingham Palace and stick all the furniture exhibits in a big lockup on some industrial estate in the middle of shitsville.

It's not just about the objects the building holds but about what went on there.. I'd bet you'd develop it into flats for heroin addicts?!

Steve Jobs because you're almost as much of a tool as he is.!

[Anonymous Coward]

Money where their mouse is.

I hope everyone who has signed the petition has also donated to the cause. If not it becomes a rather pointless demand that other people do something that the petition signer is not willing to do themselves.

I'd have thought that the best way to support a private enterprise you like is to spend your money there, rather than demand a government handout.

[Philip]

Priorities

You can bet your life the money would be found if it was for some multiculti Cumbya-singing "diversity celebrations" or whatnot..

I'm never disappointed by the ability of the great and the good of this nation to overlook minimise our achievements and contributions to the world.

[David Pollard]

Your heritage needs you !

So how about a few Reg readers get together to 'write' some anti-profiling anti-spyware secure anonymising software, which would indeed be a tribute to the work that was done there to ensure our freedoms, then leak the news that it's to be donated to Bletchley Park as a fund raiser? As in all psy-ops it only needs to be moderately credible.

A response from HMG/Phorm/Nebuadd... might be expected in short order.

Now what was it that was needed? Five million? Shut up for a while and disappear and we'll make it seven.

So come on Reg readers. We can't let Germany win this one - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/30/german_interior_minister_fingerprint_appropriated/

Joke Alert 'cos I don't like it when the black helicopters come over.

[Anonymous Coward]

@simon

Huh? You wanted to make an anonymous donation? They say you can't, and you're griping about it here? Flippin' ell, the comments here have gone to the dogs...

[Paul]

@ "Reg readers unite."

Swear box is a jolly good idea.

However just be forewarned that would make Webster phREakTARD a major financial benefactor...

[heystoopid]

Sounds like

Sounds like it is time to send in the bulldozers and real estate developers as that place has become an archaic piece of history as SS Great Britain strives to recreate that fatal summer of 1933 in it's own backyard , and who needs history to remind people of the time they fought for other people's freedoms and rights just across the channel ?

[Philip Page]

International Petition

Solid coverage of this, well done and thanks.

Non-UK residents can sign this petition: http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/20873.html

For more info about the Campaign: http://www.savebletchleypark.com

cheers,

[Anonymous Coward]

@Luke

"Dave Jones you can keep cretinous fucking comments like that to yourself. You Gordo's best fukkin pal or something. Socialist like you should be locked up."

Woah....easy boy...take your happy pills and calm down. Just because somebody elses opinion doesn't agree with yours doesn't mean you have to start frothing at the mouth.

Sounds like yours is the one that has the arms that tie together around the back.

[John Greenwood]

New Year's Honour's List

I propose Darren McGuicken for a CBE/OBE/Knighthood for getting of his arse & actually doing the petition in the first place. If David Beckham can get an OBE for kicking a ball around, then surely Darren is a worthy candidate.

oh @ Luke, good call.

@ Dave Jones Thank those temporary huts for the life you have now.

Thumbs up to El Reg for giving this story the coverage it deserves

[Anonymous Coward]

lame, unamusing, banal, witless or downright tedious

I can't afford that much!

All this looking backward is moronic, I'm with Davy Jones, get rid of them, spend the money on the future.

If you want to honour the Bletchley crew, honour them with an educational institution or something, not with a wooden shack in a tank of formaldehyde.

[Anonymous Coward]

Bletchley Park

Deadline EXPIRED - The online petition deadline was May according to the form so it was a pointless article.

[KiwiAndy]

Deadline EXPIRED?

"By Anonymous Coward

Posted Thursday 31st July 2008 08:45 GMT

Deadline EXPIRED - The online petition deadline was May according to the form so it was a pointless article. "

May 2009 is expired? What space time continuum do you inhabit?

How about you don't try to undermine a truly worthy cause with your (a) Incredible stupidity or (b) Illiteracy.

Pointless article? Pointless criticism, more like. :-P

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Who's paying for this then?

I went to Bletchley and it is a fascinating place, undoubtedly all the exhibits there need preserving somewhere the public can still learn from them. Personally I think it should all be moved to the Imperial War Museum, perhaps set up one or two huts for demonstrations of how the codebreakers and techy bods worked. Sorry guys but to refurb and preserve that mansion just for the purpose of being a Museum and venue for board meetings seems wasteful to me, sadly we cannot afford to preserve everything of great historical importance and being a regular visitor to many historical sites I can't see the justification for spending the money there. There are sections of Hadrians wall for example which have never been subject to archaelogical studies, so many suspected Iron Age and Bronze Age sites which get a 3-day time team treatment then get left to groups of local volunteers to look after. It's sad, but for me the building itself is not a priority for heritage money (once the preservation is done someone still has to pay for upkeep) as many sites could have been used, the people who worked there are most important though and should be remembered as such. I would suggest the best way to preserve the main building at all is to place it in private ownership with conditions in the same way that people can buy castles but must maintain a certain level of preservation. This has worked well for a number of previously public owned stately homes.

Also @ Luke, go post this sort of ill-informed twattery on Have Your Say where it belongs.

[Anonymous Coward]

I want to reach for my 12 bore.

As a country with history lying about all over the place we are in danger of suffering from an excess of "protectionism".

I do not denigrate the reasons for this rash of "Saviour" policy but we seem to be becoming overly fatigued by this culture. Whilst I agreee that we should remember, and savour, our successes we should also remember that there are only so many days in a lifetime. That visiting each and every monument to history within the British Isles would probably take more than one lifetime if we were to have some understanding of it's place in society. The current vogue from parliamment is to deny us much of our historic knowledge and deleting such knowledge from the history books. It is becoming obvious to a blind man on a galloping horse what the government is doing in their craven kow towing towards outside nations, America for one and Europe for another. In it's rush to deny all things which made our race great in the past the prime minister and his cohorts should be celebrating our nationhood, as ALL nations should, rather than denying it. In the last ten years we have lost 90% of our autonomy as a nation, the concessions made by Brown and Company have no validity without the acceptance of the British nation. He sold our gold reserves without any debate, and at a loss making rate, in order to fill up one of the voids which he and "Prudence" made with their extravagant spendthrift behaviour.

He will not trust the Public with the decision as to our own future despite having made a promise to do so. In this I not only call him and his riotous party to order but the entire political establishment and all parties, whatever colour rosettes they sport. I have little doubt that if I exhorted an English National Party to sit beside the Welsh and Scottish nationalists I shoud be called racist, so why do they get away with it? I say "a plague on all their houses", give England back to the English. Kick out those who advocate subjecting us to rule by foreign nationals who have nothing but detestation for us as a nation. Let us regain the respect of the world by truly becoming a whole nation again.

[Samantha Clinton]

@ JonB

Take it the ironing was a step too far? *sigh*

[Anonymous Coward]

@Samantha Clinton

I don't iron well, I'm naught but a crumpled mess. So ironing is required really.

[Samantha Clinton]

@JonB

*shuffles off to place furtive advert for domestic help*

*and advert for man who doesn't require ironing*

[Anonymous Coward]

@Samantha Clinton

I guess it depends on whether or not crumpled bothers you. ;)

[Samantha Clinton]

@ JonB

Are we still talking clothing? As whilst I have no objection to 'a bit of character' (hell, Daniel Craig is a bit craggy and he's DEFINITELY get it), if you bear more of a passing resemblance to a Shar Pei I may have issues...

[Daniel]

@Sam and Jon

maybe you two should consider a Bletchley Park wedding.

phwoaaar, look at the bidirectional rotary encoding wheels on that ...