Mavis Batey

Late 1930s. When World War II was declared, Mavis Batey, previously studying German Romanticism, abandoned her studies to do herduty for her country. At Bletchley Park, Britain's best kept secret, she became one of the first women codebreakers, a pioneer and astar, breaking codes vital to bringing peace. Mavis Batey,a unique biography,delves into the life of one of Britain's best female codebreakers, taking thereader through the war and to the arrival of peace, when Mavis turned her attention from breaking codes to the conservation andpreservation of gardens. Mavis became an important figure in conservation, becoming President of the Garden History Society, which,under her watch, became an academic society and campaigning force for the protection of landscapes, parks, and gardens ofhistoric interest. She also lobbied Parliament, fighting threats of encroachment and misuse of land. Acts of Parliament were passed,English Heritage was established, and grants were introduced. Historic gardens became officially recognised as essential componentsof European culture and her National Register of Historic Gardens came to fruition. Mavis's passion was writing and she wrote manybooks. Mavis was finally awarded the RHS Veitch Memorial Medal and the MBE for Services to the preservation and conservation of historiclandscapes. Mavis never did retire: her final project was to inspire an American Garden Trail for Bletchley Park which she signed off justa few months before her death in November 2013.