Bletchley Park, the home of Alan Turing's World War II code-breaking team and the museum of computing, is set to get funding from Google to revamp some of its dilapidated buildings.
As the home of Turing's wartime code-breaking and a leading centre of computing history, Bletchley Park is a vital site for anybody interested in the history of British technology.
Wartime computer operator JeanValentine, told The Telegraph at an event to celebrate Turing's memory this week that: "Looking around, you can see why we need Google. Some of the huts are just dilapidated, there's no other word for it.
"With their help we'll get things restored so people can go into these places and get a sense of history. I spent my youth in Hut 11, doing what I could for my country, and it badly needs refurbishing."
"The most inspiring and uplifting achievement"
Peter Barron, Google's head of communications, said that his company had put up money to buy Alan Turing's papers earlier this year because: "The point is that all of us have heroes. At Google our heroes are Alan Turing and the people who worked on breaking the codes at Bletchley Park.
"It was probably the most inspiring and uplifting achievement in scientific technology over the last hundred years. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that without Alan Turing, Google as we know it wouldn't exist.'
Turing's Colossus computer successfully de-encoded the Nazi's wartime messaging, and is now celebrated as one of the first examples of the modern day computer.
Bletchely has faithfully recreated Turing's Colossus, in one of the original Bletchley Park huts, which visitors to the centre can now see.
"More than 10,000 people worked here and half of them were women," said computer scientist Dr Sue Black.
"Today's a celebration of Bletchley Park in all its wonderfulness," the academic added. "Google loves Bletchley Park and Bletchley Park loves Google."
Via The Telegraph
