Bletchley Park Stamp

10 April 2012, 05:50

The Bletchley Park codebreaking centre whose work helped shorten World War Two is being celebrated on a new stamp.

Although there have been other stamps that have commemorated the work of codebreakers at Milton Keynes' Bletchley Park, this is the first to show the park itself.

On the stamp, you can see part of the roof of the Bletchley Park mansion which stands at the centre of the Park estate.  It was at Bletchley Park that teams worked to crack German codes and decipher their messages.

The stamp is part of a series which Royal Mail have called an "alphabetical odyssey around the UK".  Bletchley Park, which was also known as Station X, has been chosen to represent the letter X.

Bletchley Park hope the stamp will raise the profile of the park internationally - especially among stamp collectors - and help raise vital funds.

It costs £1m a year to keep Bletchley Park running and open to the public.  On top of this, the Park are trying to raise £1.7m to enable them to get a matching amount from the National Lottery.

Pictured above right: Volunteer Terry Mitchell standing outside the Bletchley Park Post Office~

Pictured below: The new stamp showing the roof of the Bletchley Park mansion