BLETCHLEY PARK PUTS STAMP ON TURING CENTENARY

The intention is to restrict the issue to just 1000 for FDC118 and 500 of each for FDC119,120 & 121.  Produced in association with the Alan Turing Centenary Year Committee and Bletchley Park Post Office, proceeds will go towards supporting Bletchley Park.  Similar stamp and envelope combinations from Bletchley Park Post Office have fetched several times their original issue price.  So at £9.99 each these little pieces of art and history could be a good investment.  They can be previewed and ordered here.

The first design is by Rebecca Peacock of Firecatcher Design and the theme is Turing’s work on the mathematics of patterns.  It was Turing’s genius for mathematics that made his work so vital to Bletchley Park and the development of modern computing.

The other three are original paintings by artist Steve Williams who has donated his work to the Bletchley Park Trust. They depict three buildings at Bletchley Park associated with Alan Turing.  These are the cottage and Hut 8 where he worked and Hut 11 that housed the Turing Bombe machines.

The Royal Mail stamp features the rebuilt Turing Bombe on display to visitors at Bletchley Park.  The first day of issue postmark is a facsimile of one of the Bombe’s 36 drums marked with letters of the alphabet.

A dedicated team, led by engineer John Harper, spent 15 years rebuilding the working Turing Bombe - a marvel of electro-mechanical engineering used to help crack the Enigma cipher.  Bletchley Park Post Office was once the codebreakers’ undercover mail room then a sub post office when Bletchley Park became a GPO training centre.  Its re-creation of a 1940’s post office is a popular attraction.  The first day covers and special stamps it began issuing in 1994 are sought after by collectors from around the world.



Editor’s Information
More information can be obtained on the issue through bletchleycovers.com or calling 0044 (0)1908 363489

Media contacts
•    Kelsey Griffin, Director – Museum Operations and Media Relations, Bletchley Park Trust, 01908 272 662, kgriffin@bletchleypark.org.uk
•    Terry Mitchell, Bletchley Park Post Office, 01604 781440, terry@ltmp.co.uk
•    Caroline Murdoch, Redworks PR, 01869 810 443, caroline@redworks.co.uk.

Fundraising
The Heritage Lottery Fund announced a £4.6 million grant for the Bletchley Park Trust in October 2011.  It is a pre-condition that in order to draw down the funding to commence the current stage of the £15 million project, the Trust must have raised the match funding required to complete the package.  

In addition to the Google grant and a number of other awards from Trusts and Foundations, individuals are also supporting the Trust’s ‘Action This Day!’ campaign to help raise the match funding.  To donate please go to www.bletchleypark.org.uk
For corporate or other opportunities to help support the campaign, please contact Kelsey Griffin, Director – Museum Operations and Media Relations, Bletchley Park Trust kgriffin@bletchleypark.org.uk or 01908 272662.

Admission information
•    Bletchley Park is open  every day except Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day:  
o    1 March to 31 October – 9.30 am to 5.00pm (weekdays and weekends)
o    1 November to 28 February – 9.30 am to 4.00pm (weekdays and weekends.)
•    Admission charge is a one-off fee for an annual season ticket.

Prices  
Adults:      £12.00
Concessions: (Over 60's and students with   valid ID.)      £10.00
Children 12 to 16:      £6.00
Children under 12:  (with friends and family only.   Groups of children with clubs, such as Cub Scouts, should contact us    in advance)     Free of  Charge
Family Ticket:  (Two adults + Two children aged 12 to 16)      £26.00

Tickets include a guided tour (subject to availability) and/or the use of an audio guide.  On-site parking is £3 per car.  

The National Museum of Computing
The cost of admission to the Colossus and Tunny galleries;- Adults £2, Children (13 to 16) and Concessions (over 60s and students with a valid ID card) £1, children aged 12 and under will be free.  This is NOT an annual season ticket but a one-day admission pass.
When the rest of TNMOC is open on Thursdays and Saturdays, a visitor can upgrade their £2 admission with an additional £3 to visit the TNMOC museum.