Science Museum, London

CCS’s senior partner is, of course, well known for its huge exhibition of science and technology artefacts. A large gallery is devoted the technology of computing and calculation. Three exhibits of particular interest are the Ferranti Pegasus, - until recently the oldest working computer in the world, the replica Babbage difference engine and a Powers-Samas punched card installation. But there is much else to see for the discerning eye.
Further details at the museum’s webpages on computing 

MOSI - Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester

CCS’s other founding partner museum is MOSI, a museum dedicated to technology with a Manchester connection. Manchester University’s seminal contribution to computing and the presence of Fujitsu and its predecessor companies such as ICL and Ferranti in Manchester is well represented in the collection. The undoubted star is the replica of the “Manchester Baby” computer – more properly the “Small Scale Experimental Machine”, the world’s first all-electronic stored program computer first run in 1948. But further exhibits such as the Hartree Differential Analyser and other computing equipment can also be seen. Tucked away in the textiles section and often overlooked by computing enthusiasts is a 1910 Jacquard loom controlled by punched cards.
See here for more information 

Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park was the wartime location for the teams which learned how to decipher German telecommunications traffic much of which had been encrypted using their Enigma machines. A replica of “the Bombe” – Alan Turing’s electro-mechanical machine for finding the all important, ever-changing settings in the Enigma is on display and is regularly demonstrated.
Bletchley Park’s main website is here. 

The National Museum of Computing

Situated within Bletchley Park and covered by the same admission arrangements is TNMoC, another of CCS’s partners and, in many ways the most active. Here can be seen computing equipment ranging from punched card installations to personal computers, from hand-held calculators to 1980s ICL mainframe computers. The replica of Colossus the electronic successor to the Bombe is also here. Altogether it is a huge collection, much of it in working order and regularly demonstrated. Many machines not in working order are under active restoration by enthusiasts and CCS members.
Find out more information here. 

Museum of Computing

A small museum situated in Swindon town centre, the Museum of Computing is of particular interest to people who are keen to see material from the 1980s onwards although earlier periods are not forgotten. A regularly changing exhibition is managed by a group of volunteers who put on periodic events and draw a following which is more than local.
The Museum of Computing’s website gives details of opening hours.

Centre for Computing History

Another small museum, this time in Haverhill, Suffolk, the Centre for Computing History has a large-collection of small computers and calculators. The Centre also provides equipment for use in film and television work. CCS members will probably have seen some of their machines without knowing it most notably on the BBC’s The IT Crowd. The Centre for Computing History is open by appointment.
See their website for details. 

Computing Futures Museum

Set up by Staffordshire University with support from the BCS, this Stafford Museum is new to us and is, as yet, unvisited. But if its well-researched website is anything to go by, it does look interesting. We await reports from members but it would appear that the museum is particularly strong on the heritage of English Electric computers, an area not always given due prominence elsewhere.