Nearly 100 leading computer scientists have joined forces to
call on the government to intervene to save Bletchley Park from
irreparable decay.
In an
open letter to The Times, they warned that
the centre that
broke German codes during World War II and helped launch the modern
computer is under threat from "the ravages of age and a lack of
investment".
The 97 signatories to the letter - mostly professors and heads
of university departments - called for the site to be turned into
the National Museum of Computing.
They wrote: "Many of the huts where the code breaking occurred
are in a terrible state of disrepair.
"As a nation, we cannot allow this crucial and unique piece of
both British and world heritage to be neglected in this way. The
future of the site, buildings, resources and equipment at Bletchley
Park must be preserved for future generations by providing secure
long-term financial backing.
"Is it too much to ask that Bletchley Park be provided with the
same financial stability as some of our other great museums such as
the Imperial War Museum, the Science Museum and the Natural History
Museum?"
They said that the centre had only survived so far thanks to
Milton Keynes borough council declaring it a conservation area in
1992, and the formation of the Bletchley Park Trust.
Bletchley Park is known to have had trouble raising funds for
repairs.
The scientists wrote: "The work undertaken at Bletchley Park
during the Second World War in breaking German wartime codes played
a significant part in winning that war and securing our
future."
"Bletchley Park also played a significant role 65 years ago in
the design and development of Colossus, one of the world's first
programmable electronic computers.
"It is therefore fitting that the world's first purpose-built
computer centre should be home to the National Museum of
Computing."
The signatories were led by Professor Keith van Rijsbergen,
chairman of this year's Research
Assessment Exercise, Computer Science & Informatics
sub-panel, and included Professor Robert Churchouse of Cardiff
University and formerly of GCHQ, the electronic spy base.
Last March, Computer Weekly reported how the
Museum of Computing was looking for a new home because it had
to leave its base after the University of Bath decided to close its
Oakdale campus in Swindon, which also prompted fears that Britain's
computing legacy could be forgotten by the next generation of
students.