Cogs whirred as students followed in the footprints of a man considered to be the father of modern computer science.

Math students from Harrow College have visited Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes to explore the iconic location of where German messages were decoded during the Second World War.

Bletchley Park was also the setting of the award-winning historical thriller The Imitation Game, staring Harrow’s Benedict Cumberbatch as real-life British cryptanalyst Alan Turing who was hired to decrypt German intelligence codes during World War II.

During the trip, students visited the old huts and blocks where messages sent by the German Army and its Air Force were decrypted, translated and analysed for vital intelligence.

The keen mathematicians were also given a lesson in basic ciphering and told how the Enigma worked, before being allowed to type letters using the infamous machines.

Olugbemi Moronfolu said: “Going to Bletchley Park was a wonderful experience. We were introduced to a world of cryptography and technology and told how if it wasn’t for this, the Second World War would have cost countless more lives on both sides.

“I feel the trip has changed the way I think. I now consider Maths to be a lot more important than I had previously thought”.

The visit was arranged by staff in the Maths department at Harrow College as part of the student’s annual end of year trip.