On 27th of June 2025 Year 10 had the  
pleasure of visiting Bletchley Park on a 
Computer Science Trip, a day packed with 
activities that encompassed our algorithmic 
thinking skills, knowledge of encryption and 
even cryptography. 
When we arrived, we were met with an expert tour 
guide who took us over to the Bletchley Mansion 
and quizzed us with questions about our prior 
knowledge of codebreaking and enlightened us 
with some fascinating information. After this, we 
were taken over to the entrance of two garages, 
these were full of different types of vintage 
vehicles. At first sight, it didn’t look that special. 
I couldn’t have been more wrong. This was the 
very entrance where thousands of motor cyclists 
called Dispatch Riders would bring in valuable 
intelligence from covert drives during the war. 
They played a crucial role by delivering encrypted 
messages to and from Bletchley Park from 
stations called ‘Y stations’ to the experienced 
team of expert codebreakers.
After the Dispatch Riders, we visited inside the 
mansion, which was the very centre of attention 
as many gathered around the rooms which 
contained original radios, differing papers packed 
with code and all organised scrupulously into 
grids, which made codebreaking more effective. 
After this, we had the privilege of viewing ‘The 
Cottages’ where some of the most prolific 
Codebreakers such as Dilly Knox, Mavis Lever 
and even the man regarded as the ‘forefather of 
modern computer science, Alan Turing’ worked 
in these buildings. This was the very site where 
the first codebreaking of Enigma by an exclusive 
British team took place and produced intelligence 
showing that the Allies had successfully deceived 
the Germans in the ‘Double Cross’ operation 
regarding the location for the D-Day landings.
We also got to visit a mini cinema which displayed 
the significance of codebreaking in the war effort 
and how crucial it was to gather intelligence such 

as the Battle of Cape Matapan, where Italian 
ciphers were decrypted, informing the Royal 
Navy of Italian and German ship movements. We 
then moved onto the tours of the Huts where 
prominent codebreakers like Gordon Welshman 
worked to break the Enigma codes. Hut 8 was 
home to the office of Alan Turing, the founding 
father of modern computer science. I remember 
it like it was yesterday, his room had two desks 
with their own typewriter, a map on the far left of 
the room and a mini chalkboard hung on the wall, 
accompanying a black telephone. To this day, I 
still cannot believe that I stood in the same room 
where Alan Turing’s brains had conjured up the 
most ingenious thoughts of the century, solving 
problems during times of national insurgency, 
when the welfare of the country depended on him.
Finally, we received an excellent lecture presented 
to us by the staff at Bletchley Park on encryption 
codes and cryptography as well as an insight into 
the field of Quantum Computing.
The Bletchley Park Trip was an enjoyable 
experience based around the many wonders 
Computer Science can perform, I am very grateful 
and lucky to have been able to partake in this 
trip as it deepened my understanding of the 
fundamental concepts such as encryption and 
made me appreciate the applications of computer 
science in British history.
Sarujan Kasinthan, Year 10
TRIPS&VISITS
A CRACKING DAY
CRACKING THE CODE
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