[Klug-general] Alan Turing Pardon Petition

[James Blake]

Hi Mike

You are right about the location of the village of Wavendon, it is  
indeed North of Milton Keynes but I've been told the Bletchley Estate  
during the Second World War owned the leases to some of the land in  
the surrounding area.

Wavendon School no longer exists, it has been turned into luxury  
accommodation.  It was then a school for girls with learning  
difficulties and then later what was termed at the time 'maladjusted'  
boys.  I believe it closed in the 1980s.

Regards


James



On 1 Sep 2009, at 11:26, Michael E. Rentell wrote:

> A worthy cause - well worth support.
>
> However, as an ex-resident of Bletchley, I lived there from 1953 to  
> 1961
> as a schoolboy and young reporter on the Bletchley District Gazette, I
> must tell you that Wavendon is nowhere near Bletchley Park.
>
> Bletchley Park is less than a mile from Bletchley railway Station at  
> the
> end of Wilton Road, very close to St Mary's Church, Old Bletchley. The
> park around the house is quite small too.
>
> Wavendon is a village some miles to the north east of Bletchley, now
> part of Milton Keynes (that was an even smaller village then). Have a
> look on GoogleEarth.
>
> The only school which could be considered as being 'in' Bletchley Park
> was Wilton School which was the secondary school built there to  
> relieve
> the pressure on the older Bletchley Road Secondary School as the 'new'
> town grew in the 1950s - I was one of the incomers from North London.
>
> If Wilton School has changed its name to Wavendon School, then that  
> was
> after my time and I'm clearly way behind the times.
>
> Good cause though.
>
> MikeR
>
> George Prowse wrote:
>> James Blake wrote:
>>> Hi All
>>>
>>> I've been campaigning for a long time for an official pardon for
>>> Turing who, when facing prosecution in the UK for being homosexual,
>>> committed suicide rather than face chemical castration.  My father  
>>> was
>>> the headmaster of Wavendon School in the grounds of Bletchley Park
>>> where Turing worked to crack the German Enigma code (among  
>>> others), so
>>> I've always had an interest in the man and his work.  I know that  
>>> this
>>> is a little 'off list' but if it wasn't for Turing we'd all still be
>>> using mechanical calculators and signing  Deutschland über alles  
>>> every
>>> morning...
>>>
>>> Alan Turing was one of our country's national heros hastening the  
>>> end
>>> of the Second World War and, along with Von Neumann, making some of
>>> greatest contributions to the developing what is now considered a
>>> computer.
>>>
>>> A petition on the same site to save Bletchley Park elicited a direct
>>> response from the Prime Minister, it would be great if all of those
>>> interested in this great man and the shameful way he was treated  
>>> could
>>> take the time to sign this petition.
>>>
>>> For those interested in cryptoanalysis and the part it played in
>>> defeating the Nazis in the Second World War, there is an exhibition
>>> this coming weekend at Bletchley Park celebrating the 70th  
>>> anniversary
>>> of Turing's arrival:
>>>
>>> http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/calendar/event_detail.rhtm?cat=special&recID=567861
>>>
>>> If you're interested in Turing there have been several books written
>>> about him, but one of the best is David Leavitt's "The Man Who Knew
>>> Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer" (ISBN
>>> 978-0393052367)
>>>
>>> The petition for an official pardon for Turing can be found at:
>>>
>>> http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/turing/
>>>
>>>
>>> James
>>>
>>
>> There are some things that are close enough to the topic to warrant a
>> slight deviation but getting people to sign up for things - no matter
>> what the subject - is too far.
>>
>> This subject is already on the klug website by you, why did you  
>> think it
>> warranted a second inclusion?
>>
>> Also, can people STOP replying to emails and then changing the  
>> subject
>> to reflect another completely different subject, you need to create a
>> new email.
>>
>> George
>>
>>
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>> Kent at mailman.lug.org.uk
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>>
>
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