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Day 96 and a trip to Bletchley Park, a place which I have long wanted to visit. The code breaking achievements there during World War II are mind boggling. This picture is of Colossus, the world's first electronic semi-programmable computer which was developed to help in the breaking of coded messages sent by the German high command. When so much in our world is now controlled by computers, including our digital cameras, it is amazing to think that this is what what started it all. What is even more surprising is that all the electronic components were standard items which were commonly available at the time, many of which were used in telephone exchanges.

This is not an original machine, but a recreation. For reasons of secrecy, after the war the plans were destroyed and eight of the ten machines which had been built were dismantled. The other two went to GCHQ and were finally decommissioned in 1960. Working from just a few photographs and some scraps of diagrams which not been burnt, a team of engineers spent 14 years reverse engineering the machine to build what you see now, a fully working Colossus Mk II. A remarkable feat in itself and a worthy tribute to all the men and women who worked at Bletchley Park during the war.

Panasonic DMC-G3
Leica DG Summilux 25 f/1.4 (50 mm equivalent for 35 mm)
1/60 sec
f/4
ISO 320