Bletchley Park.

Hi Friends.

Up with the larks, well almost. The alarm went off at 6am. Early I know but we wanted to get to Fenny Stratford, as we hoped if we could find a mooring we would visit Bletchley Park. Keith has been wanting to visit the home of the World War 2 code breakers for a long time, so we were hoping today was going to be the day.

We arrived at Fenny Stratford having cruised 3.4 miles, working 2 locks, 1 swing bridge in 2hrs 20mins.

and wanted to take on water, empty the toilet cassette and get rid of rubbish, but someone had beaten us to the Sanitary Station, so we asked if we could put our boat a long side them, which was fine with them. Once they left we moved into their place and got our jobs done. We then moved up through the lock and swing bridge and moored up on the 24 hour mooring, which was plenty of time for us.

After coffee, we walked up to Bletchley Park, which is a bit of a hike. You need to walk up through Fenny Stratford and through Bletchley, under the railway line and Bletchley is on the left. After paying our £10 each to get in, the first port of call was the cafe for a much needed coffee. We then set off around the Mansion first, which we both found completely amazing. It is an absolutely beautiful place, sad to think it was almost pulled down.

Following the deaths of Sir Herbert and Lady Fanny Leon who owned the Mansion, the Park fell into the hands of property developer Captain Hubert Faulkner, who intended to demolish the buildings and sell the land as a housing site. Before the demolition could take place, Admiral Sir Hugh Sinclair (Director of Naval Intelligence, head of MI6, and founder of the Government Code and Cypher School) bought the site with his own money (£7,500), having failed to persuade any government department to pay for it.

Bletchley Park played a huge role in helping us to win the war and is well worth a visit. There was a Winston Churchhill exhibition, which I thought was fantastic. All the items are owned by Jack Darrah. Bletchley Park is also the home of Colossus decoding machine.

With everything seen and feet aching, we made our way home to the boat and are now going to enjoy a very relaxing evening. My feet are screaming at me at the moment, so I am off to take off my walking shoes.