The Park has been handicapped by more than a decade by well-intentioned amateurs who seemed reluctant to take advice
The news that the National Lottery is to provide £400,000 as a first stage grant to Bletchley Park is to be welcomed, and the trust’s director, Simon Greenish, has succeeded where his predecessors failed. The hope is that, with matching funding, some £4m will be raised to restore the site and transform it into a serious tourist attraction and educational centre.
The Park has been handicapped by more than a decade by well-intentioned amateurs who seemed reluctant to take advice and make an application for lottery funding with the support of a business plan and proper accounts. The result was a debilitating stalemate in which the mansion deteriorated and the famous huts, in which some of the most important cryptographic work of World War II was conducted, disintegrated.
Foreign visitors to the Park were shocked by what they saw and could not understand why such a historically important institution was not given recognition as a heritage venue.
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The answer was that the original enthusiasts, who saved the Park from being flattened to make way for a supermarket, would not hand over their prize to the professional managers that were needed to run the site and achieve an investment from public funds. Now, at last, and perhaps due to public pressure, Bletchley Park is likely to develop into a major tourist destination.
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