London Vacation -OR- A Tour of Rth's Spare Oom

[h_dash_h]

OK, seriously, I did not plan my week-long London vacation (from which I have just returned) around elements of rthstewart's stories on the Spare Oom side and/or other direct or thematic spin-offs by others in our little corner of LJ here. But that's pretty much how things turned out.

First of all, I was staying near the Finchley Road tube stop (although

Comments

[rthstewart]

That is amazing. Just amazing. The War Museum sounds wonderful especially. And really, how amazing to be wandering through it with women who had been there. I had a very positive experience at the WW2 Museum in New Orleans. The way the newer ones can really engage you is wonderful.

I'm embarrassed that I did not know that all about Turing, either. I love the quote about the spies and criminality.

I had read that there were lots of pretty, social WRENS at Bletchley Park and the atmosphere could be quite the soap opera.

Mummified crocodiles? Amazing.

It just sounds wonderful! I just read something now about the ration books -- how women's handbags became fashionably very large to accommodate all the ration books!

Thank you for that wonderful, wonderful travel diary!

[h_dash_h]

Yes, many of the quotes from folks who worked at Bletchley mentioned that there were quite a few "romances" and even some weddings. Apparently Turing was briefly engaged, presumably either as a failed attempt at conforming to society or perhaps as a ruse. It's only mentioned briefly when listing a few facts about various women at Bletchley and given Turing's later persecution I doubt it's something that anyone spoke of much later. But if they did I'd love to know more.

Apparently there was some jealousy among the other service branches over the Wrens who could at times wear civillian clothing, and had uniforms that looked "splendid" when they did wear them! The quotes paint a picture of lively social scene, although apparently the experiences varied a great deal depending on when a person worked there and on what shift. Some folks don't remember there being much socializing at all, but more remember the soap opera.

[rthstewart]

What was done to Turing is so appalling and really what a juxtaposition with the persecution shown in the Holocaust exhibits. So sad. You would want to think that the service he did to his country, and the recent horrors of persecution of a person simply for being who he or she is would have resonated. Instead, not at all.

And speaking of fearing what is not understood, the grave robbing for surgery study and dissection reminds me of both Frankenstein and... if memory serves, I think Michelangelo did something similar with corpses to try to study musculature.

Something I wasn't clear on at Bletchley Park was the extent to which the WRENS understood what they were doing. I read some diary entries that indicated that they really didn't -- that in the work they did in the Huts they never had a clear picture of the big picture.

I unfortunately left the book on an airplane so I'm going to have to rely on something else for the Bletchley bits but I was curious about that.

Wonderful stuff.

[autumnia]

Fascinating, just absolutely fascinating! The IWM has been on my to-visit list since before my last trip to London (the friends I had traveled with weren't interested in visiting the IWM), so I'm hoping to finally go this time around. I also want to take a look at Churchill's War Cabinet rooms, and visit the London Transport Musuem.

I think I should put Bletchley on my list now as well, assuming I'll have the time to go.

[h_dash_h]

Check out the Bletchley Park web site ( http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/ ) as not everything is open every day, and some parts (like the Manor) can be booked for events. The Block B main exhibit is always open, though, and I think Hut 8 is also always open although I'm not certain. Those are really the two areas with the most things of interest. The only one that was closed that I would have definitely looked at had it been open was the main part of the Computer Museum (the Colossus rebuild is open more often). Unlike most of the museums in London, this one is entirely self-funded and therefore charges admission. But you can really spend an entire day there if you get caught up in all of the codebreaking descriptions and exhibits, and wander the grounds, etc. It's definitely worth the visit, though. I think the train ticket was 14 pounds round trip (off peak

[autumnia]

That info on Bletchley is good to know. I really need to start thinking about my itinerary, especially if it may involving riding the train out of London (always fun!).

Churchill's War Rooms are part of the IWM, actually, though they are located separately from the main museum. Coincidentally, I was watching a behind-the-scenes for a Doctor Who episode the other day, where one of the writers took a tour of the War Rooms and it's so amazing to see they kept the place much as it looked all those years ago when Churchill and his advisers used it for meetings and as a command center throughout the war.

The London Transport Museum is a great place if you're a fan of trains. They've had several really wonderful exhibitions the last few years that commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Blitz, including opening a disused station, recreating it as it was during the 1940s (signage, old train cars and actors dressed for the parts) for tours last year. I particularly love their shop because you can get prints of old posters and signs that