Number 10 responds to the petition to save Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park near Milton Keynes, about 50 miles north of London, was the British nerve centre of second world war military code-breaking and the birthplace of the modern computer. Within the last twenty years its historical significance has been recognised and the remains of the wartime site now has a museum dedicated to explaining its past, as well as the reconstructed Colossus hosted by the National Museum of Computing (passim). But funds are tight and the supporting organisations failed to get grants to ensure the site’s survival in the medium or long term. As linked through from this page, a petition was lodged on 28 May with 10 Downing Street via their excellent MySociety–built online petition page. The official response was published today.

Although HMG itself is not going to intervene directly, Downing Street points out that things are being done by a variety of bodies such as English Heritage and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council to help Bletchley Park survive. The actions so far include £900,000 of aid towards critical restoration work. Votes of confidence. I look forward to a brighter future for this strange and unique place.

The Number 10 response to the petition

Three conferences that I’d like to attend

• Libre Graphics Meeting 2009. Cost of travel a tad high (OK, 24 peak-time return Reading to London trips). Would like to be there to talk about the new Open Font Library web site, but will it be any nearer to live by 6 May?
• Information Design Conference 2009. Slightly better chance of making this, in Greenwich on 2 and 3 April, as it only requires one of those return tickets (perhaps not even that!)
• SERIAC 2009. Booked already as this is a no-brainer at £12.50 for the day of talks on 25 April. Sadly, due to the DLR, I missed last year’s keynote on London’s pooh and how Bazalgette made it disappear, but this year we’re round the table in Camelot so who knows what’ll be unearthed?
• OK, make that four: Revival is the 2009 Friends of St Bride Library conference. I really ought to make it for that one as I’m supposed to be doing the techie stuff.

Revolving doors in the preservation of graphic communication

Two very loosely related news items to report.

Firstly the availability of a digitised archive of PS, the Preventative Maintenance Monthly, which was art directed by Will Eisner. The magazine, issued by the US army, is a fascinating and accomplished example of the use of comic book techniques in instructional materials. It is now available in digitised form through Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries. It’s not the only example of the use of this approach, but there are monthly issues over twenty years in the archive, giving a pretty big body of material. A gift for researchers and enthusiasts. Thanks to José de Souza, Infodesign-Café email list

Secondly the loss of the the Printing House Museum in Cockermouth, Cumbria, which has closed following the death of its founder David Winkworth about six months ago. The Printing House was an example of the kind of museum that you discover almost by accident; a private and fairly haphazard enthusiast’s collection rather than something put together along lines tramelled by formal collecting policies. Such museums can transform a rainy afternoon with a wealth of unexpected treasures. Perhaps because of the association with drizzly weather we like to think of these eclectic emporia as a very British institution, but of course they’re found all over the world.

When I visited about five years ago, the Printing House was run with timed tours throughout the day, so that the general public could learn (from David or one of his team, which I think included at least one member of the family) exactly what the selection of brooding machinery in the back of the stationery shop in the high street represented. The tour was concise and extremely well-informed.

It’s impossible to keep museums like this one going without the kind of determination and commitment that their founders possess, so naturally they perish in time. See them while you can; there are still hundreds around. And who knows when this kind of enterprise, which I think of as the preserve of a generation who grew up in the middle of the twentieth century, will be resurgent? The instinct to collect is strong, as eBay shows us. Matching this with the flair, creativity, enthusiasm and knowledge to display private collections is a much more rarified ability. Thanks to Paul Nash, Letpress email list