A MATHEMATICS initiative held at Llandrillo college gave youngsters the opportunity to get close to one of the most important pieces of British wartime history.

Nearly 150 students and school pupils chance to see a genuine Second World War Enigma codebreaking machine.

Coleg Llandrillo’s Computer Science and IT students from the Rhos-on-Sea campus, together with more 30 pupils from Ysgol Glanwydden primary school in Penrhyn Bay, had a go of the original, world-famous, 1936-built machine.

They learned about cryptography - the science and mathematics of codes and codebreaking - in an interactive series of presentations, under the umbrella of the Enigma Project.

Dr James Grime, who led the workshops, said: “It was nice to see that so many of the students and pupils knew so much about the Enigma machines, even though the machines are over 80 years old. The workshops offer a tangible way to link maths with history and the students’ feedback was amazingly positive.”

Coleg Llandrillo Maths tutor, Arwel Baker, said: “I think cryptography is an excellent way of getting young people interested in maths, science and history, and seeing a genuine WWII Enigma machine really brings the mathematics of codebreaking to life.”

For more information on maths courses, or any other courses at Coleg Llandrillo, call the college’s Learner Services team on 01492 542 338.