The Centre for Computing History in Cambridge

The Centre for Computing History is a short walk from Cambridge city centre and is home to a sizeable collection of computers. The museum actively encourages visitors to sit down, try out a few games and even have a go at BASIC programming.

The museum's collection ranges from mechanical calculators and mainframes to home computers and games consoles. Most of the home computers and consoles are switched on and running classic games.

If you're interested in the history of computing (particularly home computing), the centre is the perfect place for a day out.

Relaxen und watschen der Blinkenlights - the MITS Altair 8800

PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); - Commodore PET 2001

PLOT 48,56:DRAW 160,0,65536 - ZX Spectrum 48K

Intel MDS 80 Microprocessor Development System

HP1000 F Series minicomputer

Video Gaming 1979-1989 at the NCCD

The National Centre for Craft & Design is hosting an event to celebrate the golden age of video games, "Revolution in the Bedroom, War in the Playground: Video Gaming 1979-1989". The exhibition runs from 19th October to 5th January in the main gallery.

The exhibition focuses on bedroom programmers, 8-bit games design and magazine cover art with classic games running on several computers. If you're in the Sleaford area, it's definitely worth a visit.

Detail from Simon Patterson's 15 metre chalkboard circuit diagram

Cover artwork by Oliver Frey

Silicon Dreams & The Vintage Computer Festival

This weekend the biggest event in the U.K.'s retro computing calendar will be hosted at the Snibston Discovery Museum in Leicestershire. The Vintage Computer Festival follows 2010's highly successful event with most of the main exhibitors returning. Some of the highlights include:

• Raspberry Jam - a hands-on workshop for the Raspberry Pi single board computer organised by the Centre for Computing History.
• The Amiga is well represented at the show with demonstrations of MorphOS 3.2 and the latest AmigaOne X1000.
• 15+ exhibitors will be displaying a wide range of historic / unusual computers including RISC OS running on the Raspberry Pi.
• Look out for the Spectranet ethernet board in action. Tweet direct from a ZX Spectrum complete with nixie tube tweetometer!

The event runs from 5th - 7th July. Tickets are £15 for the day, or £20 for the weekend. We'll be there when the gates open at 10am. Is anyone else planning to attend?

The Vintage Computer Festival, Bletchley Park

The computing highlight of June will be the Vintage Computer Festival at The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park.  Held on 19-20 June, the event is the first of it's kind in the U.K.  Tickets can be purchased for £8.50 online or £10.00 on the door.

The National Museum of Computing's website has the full list of exhibitors, lectures and events. Some of the highlights include:

• The launch of the new Amiga X1000 boasting a dual-core 1.8GHz PowerISA CPU, 2GB memory and Xena 500MHz SDS co-processor
• 20+ exhibitors demonstrating a variety of historic computers
• Lectures by a number of key figures in computing history, including Sophie Wilson, one of the designers of Acorn Computers and ARM processors
• Retro gaming competition

I'll be there when the gates open at 10:30am on Saturday. Are you planning to attend?

Computer Museums in the U.K.

The U.K. has a number of dedicated computer museums while a few other museums have permanent computer history collections. If you're interested in the history of computing the following are definitely worth a visit:

The National Museum of Computing

During World War II Bletchley Park was home to Britain's secret codebreaking activities. The National Museum of Computing is based at Bletchley and has a collection which includes an Elliot 803, ICL 2966 and the Colossus. The museum is open Thursday and Saturday afternoons. Admission is £12 for Bletchley Park plus £5 for TNMOC.

Museum of Computing

The Museum of Computing is close to Swindon's town centre and specialises in home computers and games consoles. The museum is open on Friday and Saturday. Admission is £2.

The Science Museum

London's Science Museum has a collection dedicated to the history of computing. The museum is home to a variety of notable systems including a Cray 1, Ferranti Pegasus and Charles Babbage's Difference Engine. Entry is free.

The Centre for Computing History

The Centre for Computing History is based at Haverhill in Suffolk. The museum has an extensive collection of home computers, manuals and magazines. Admission is free but by appointment only.

The Museum of Science and Industry

The calculating and computing exhibition at Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry includes a rebuilt Baby, the world's first stored program computer. Entry to the museum is free.