Part 2 – Lorenz and legacy Enigma was only part of the Bletchley Park story. As early as 1940, listening stations began to pick up enciphered teleprinter messages. These worked in a completely different way to messages enciphered on an…
Bletchley Park
Part 1 – Enigma and Ultra This is Bletchley Park. To all intents and purposes, it’s a nondescript, somewhat ugly, large Victorian mansion and estate just north of London. But what went on at Bletchley Park was extraordinary: it changed…
The chuffing romance of Haverthwaite
Last Updated on 30th September 2019Imagine a simpler, hate-free, monochrome world, where you know your doctor, civil servants are both civil and servile, politicians benign and dogs only ever bark happily. You are secure in the womb of grim, factory-stained,…
Update – Flying Officer James Tillett
Last Updated on 20th September 2019Occasionally, things on A Bit About Britain need to be updated. It doesn’t normally warrant a mention. However, some time ago, I wrote a piece about a simple memorial to a 22-year old Battle of…
Molly visits Pevensey Castle, a Very Important Place
We bowled up to Pevensey Castle on a blue-sky day in the company of Molly. Molly, I should say, is a small dog of exceptional poise and dignity, but has no relevance whatsoever to our story. She is mentioned merely…
A Bit About Britain’s History repeats itself
Finally – A Bit About Britain’s History (From a long time ago until quite recently) is available as both an e-book and paperback on Amazon. A Bit About Britain’s History is a light introduction to Britain’s fascinating story. It could…
Boys toys? A visit to Duxford
Having been weaned on tales of Douglas Bader, Stamford Tuck and Guy Gibson, I get quite excited visiting places like Duxford. IWM Duxford is home to most of the Imperial War Museum’s collection of rather large exhibits – mainly aircraft. …
A short visit to Southwold
Last Updated on 15th April 2019 It is said that Britain’s seaside towns are looking tired: unfortunately, in many cases, that’s true. But there doesn’t seem to be too much wrong with Suffolk’s Southwold. So we’re just going to show…
London’s medieval Jewel Tower
Regular watchers of TV news will be familiar with the scene outside the Houses of Parliament, where journalists interview politicians on a patch of grass opposite Old Palace Yard, against a backdrop of Gothic architecture and the appropriately barbarian howls…
The Needles – a tale of shipwrecks, Victorian forts and Cold War
The Needles, enormous 100-feet (30-metre) high chalk and flint stacks off the most westerly point of the Isle of Wight, are part of the Island’s iconography, and one of Britain’s most recognisable coastal features. They are an exposed eroded section…
Halfway to paradise
Last Updated on 4th March 2019A statue of 1960s pop idol Billy Fury stares out from Liverpool’s Albert Dock, across the Mersey, where he used to work on a tug-boat. Billy was hot stuff in his day. Of course, no…
Kings and carols
Last Updated on 9th December 2019Every Christmas Eve, millions of people all round the world tune in to their TVs or radios to listen to carols from King’s – or ‘Nine Lessons and Carols’ – from King’s College Chapel, Cambridge.…