The story behind this Wetherspoons in Milton Keynes being named 'Captain Ridley's Shooting Party'

    Love it or loathe it, Wetherspoons are one of the biggest and busiest pub chains in the whole country.

    And one of the things which makes them unique is the different name given to each of the 874 pubs across the UK.

    In Bletchley, the Wetherspoons pub is called 'Captain Ridley's Shooting Party' - but do you actually know the reason why? 

    Well most people in Milton Keynes know that Bletchley had a huge amount of World War 2 activity at the historic Bletchley Park site.

    But there was actually a fair amount of activity happening there before the Second World War even began.

    In 1882, the Bletchley Park estate was purchased by Sir Herbert Leon - who you may know now has a school in the town named after him.

    The estate ended up being passed to the government in 1937, and the government needed to scope it out and see if it would be suitable for their possible upcoming wartime effort.

    And so an undercover group of about 150 men and women working for MI6 headed into Bletchley for what at the time appeared to the outside world to be a country retreat away from work.

    In reality, they were doing an investigation into the site and seeing how it could be utilised in a future war effort.

    The group's name? Well it was 'Captain Ridley's Shooting Party'! And that's how the pub we all know and love was given its name.

    You can find out loads more about Captain Ridley's Shooting Party and its history on the Bletchley Park website.

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