Are you already struggling for ideas for family days out this summer holidays, but can’t face another day at a theme park or soft play? Or are you a relative facing babysitting duties with the most hard-to-please ‘tweens in the world and want an activity to do that you can vaguely enjoy as well?
If you’re looking for a summer holiday adventure, the Science Museum in London have a new free exhibition going on that will surely pique the interests of even the surliest member of the group (NB- that’s usually me).
Hidden away in the basement of the museum, Top Secret has been created to coincide with the 100th anniversary of GCHQ, the UK’s Intelligence, Security and Cyber agency. It explores over 100 years of communications intelligence, starting back in the trenches of WW1 and looking into the future, through GCHQ’s historic artifacts and the Science Museum’s collection items.
Explore the once-classified work of the Second World War Enigma codebreakers of Bletchley Park, including Alan Turing- who has recently been revealed as the new face of the 50-pound note. Look at Cold War communications; listen to GCHQ employees explain the work that they’re doing to protect the country now (without breaching data security, of course); see the advances of cyber technology through the century.
If nothing else about the exhibition appeals, there’s a LEGO model of GCHQ. And of course, all the other displays in the museum- the exploring space gallery is a personal favourite.
The exhibition is running until February 23rd, 2020, so if you want to visit but don’t relish the droves, maybe wait until September.
