Bletchley watchdog

some other memories from last summer in England..

Bletchley Park

on Sunday June 3 i attended a Polish Day in Bletchley Park. it is an annual event that has been taking place since 1999. it is a commemoration of death of three Polish mathematicians and cryptographers who played a crucial role in breaking codes to a German Enigma machine during WW2. the Enigma was used by Nazi for a military communications. After its codes were decrypted in 1932, they were then passed on to the Brithish and the French in 1939. the decryption of Enigma's highly protected codes helped to end WW2 in Europe two years earlier.
Polish Day at Bletchley Park was attended by both Poles and Brits. There were guided tours and talks in both languages, Polish mass, Polish Folk Dances and a speach made by a Polish Ambassador in London.
Bletchley Park is not a traditional park however it has got the lake and wildlife too. the main attractions are Enigma machines and Churchill collection, National Museum of Computing, wartime Garage , wartime mini cinema, Victorian Mansion that was headquarters to intelligence staff during the War and Polish Monument.
i had only a couple of spare hours that day and it wasn't enough to see everything that the park offers. The good thing is that it is situated 5 min walk from where i live and once purchased ticked allows you to come back free of charge over a period of one year.
you are very welcome to visit me and the park :)

Polish Memorial


Abwehr Enigma


Enigma Cinema


Polish children wearing traditional Polish folklore costumes

45 miles north from London

on May 15th i moved outside London and i'm living in Bletchley to be precise. however this post won't be describing Bletchley, but the nearest larger town called Milton Keynes.
Milton Keynes incorporates a few other little towns, like Bletchley for instance, and it has about 200.000 inhabitants. Milton Keynes Central is where a train takes you to. there is about 20 minutes walk till you get to the town's main attractions: a massive shopping centre and a theatre district with a Milton Keynes Theatre (where most of West End productions are played), pubs, restaurants, fitness club and.. Milton Keyens's London Eye :) it is also home to National Hockey Stadium.
i only visited it briefly, but my observations are that Milton Keynes is a modern and mainly industrial town. there are plenty of offices, hotels and car parks. the town's transport infrastructure has been perfectly designed for motorized and cyclists. the central area is very spacious with many good roads and cycle routes.

here you can park your bike, leave your lagguage and take a shower before you go to work

in my opinion the town lacks charm and mystery though. i only noticed big chain pubs and bars. everything is there for you – so obvious and well planned. however, there are a few good points to add.

there is some interesting, modern architecture


Milton Keynes is very clean as well and there are many green areas that have been very thoughtfuly combined in between omnipresent concrete.

glass and green


i also spotted a few pieces of street art. they were some misshapen human figures.

i decided to make them look even more surreal


there is one more thing worth mensioning and visiting too i believe - Xscape Entertaintment Centre with Europes's largest indoor 'real snow' ski slope, indoor rock climbing wall, Airkix skydiving tunnel (aparently the Beckhams have hired it once for themselves and their kids for one day;), 16 screen cinema multiplex, 20 lane bowling alley, health and fitness centre, bars, restaurants, cafes and God knows what else one could enjoy in that artefact of capitalists pleasures.