We begin in the City of Cambridge, famous for the University which was founded in 1209. It is comprised of 31 colleges, which are essentially communities of students. Most of the colleges are enclosed by a large wall within which you can see, dormitories, a dining hall, library and chapel. In terms of architecture and arrangement, the colleges are very similar so will visit one,usually Kings College with its magnificent 16th Century Chapel.

In addition to the colleges, there are administrative buildings, museums and schools to see, including the site of the Cavendish Laboratory. It was here prominent scientists including Ernest Rutherford,Francis Crick and James Watson carried out pioneering discoveries.

Bletchley Park

The 200 strong team of codebreakers and encryption experts at Bletchley Park grew to 9,000 by the end of world war 2. Their task was to decipher the enemies’ coded messages encrypted by, among other machines, The Enigma. Among the staff were Alan Turing who helped to develop mechanical methods to speed up deciphering including the Colossus, considered to be the world’s first programmable computer.

You will see where the first codebreakers worked in the estate’s19thcentury mansion and cottages. Also the additional huts that were added as the war progressed,different huts for different aspects of work. You will see examples of enciphering machines and machines that were built to speed up the deciphering process. Historians argue that the work carried out at Bletchley Park shortened world war 2 by several years