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Monday 10am - 5pm Tuesday 10am - 5pm Wednesday 10am - 5pm Thursday 10am - 5pm Friday 10am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 5pm Sunday 10am - 5pm

The Centre for Computing History

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The Centre for Computing History

The Centre for Computing History The Centre for Computing History is a friendly and accessible museum with a strong focus on learning.
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Its core purpose is to use, for the benefit of everyone, its collections, displays, learning programmes, and events to explore the social, cultural and historical impact – the lived experience - of developments in computing over the past 80 years. Future generations will wonder how this massively important and transformative cultural development happened, so while 80 years is short in terms of hum

an evolution, through hands-on and inclusive experiences we explore how these powerful devices became an inextricable part of all our lives and changed our world.

30/05/2026

We're heading to Strawberry Fair! 🍓

📅 Saturday 6th June, 12-6pm
📍 Find us in the Kids Park on Midsummer Common

The Centre for Computing History is delighted to be bringing the fascinating history of computing to this year’s 'Area 51' themed Strawberry Fair! Explore 80s, 90s and 2000s gaming and discover just how quickly technology has evolved. 🎮👽

Put your tech knowledge to the test with our iconic Feely Box Challenge - can you identify an object from computing history by touch alone? 🔍

Fancy even more computing history? Our museum will still be open too, just a 30-minute walk or 8-minute drive/cycle from the Common. Come and make a day of it! 🙌

(Photos 1-3 from our previous trip to Latitude, photo 4 is the promotional poster of Strawberry Fair created in collaboration with Long Road Sixth Form College by student artist Grace).

28/05/2026

It’s ! This week features one of our latest donations, the Interton Electronic VC 4000. 🎮

An 8-bit, ROM cartridge-based home video game console released in 1978 by Interton, a Cologne-based manufacturer principally known for its hearing aid products. Designed and manufactured almost entirely in Germany, the VC 4000 was positioned as an affordable alternative to the Atari 2600 and Mattel Intellivision.

27/05/2026

Last Wednesday our Broken Tech, Broken Earth project co-ordinator Nadirah led a fully subsidised educational visit for 67 students from Galfrid Primary School and North Cambridge Academy. They took part in four workshops exploring where computing, sustainability, and climate action intersect.

Students met researchers and role models working in AI, decarbonisation, and environmental innovation, debated the impacts of data centres, rethought the lifecycle of everyday technology, and shared ideas for how museums can explore the environmental impacts of computing.

Together, the workshops encouraged young people to think critically about both the opportunities and challenges technology presents, and what future careers in computing could look like.

A huge thank you to Dr Christine Douglass, Dr Jasmin Cooper and Yejin Lhee from Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC), Isabella Raja from AI + Planetary Justice Alliance, and our amazing volunteers Rob, Maria, and Hannah for delivering these sessions and inspiring the next generation. 👏

A thank you also to the Museums Association who externally fund the Broken Tech, Broken Earth project through the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund.

26/05/2026

Did you know we now have a working original Nintendo Game Boy out in the handheld consoles area of our main gallery?! 🎮🧩

We are open every day this week during May half term. Our main gallery is warm today so make sure you’re staying hydrated! We have cold drinks and ice creams available from our Pac Lunch Shop 🍦

23/05/2026

Did you know we are hosting a Copy That Floppy Cafe in June? 💾

Do you have an old floppy disk gathering dust and want to bring it back to life? Then come along to our floppy disk event where an experienced team will attempt to copy the data onto a modern format.

📅 Saturday 13th June, 1pm - 5pm at the Centre for Computing History, Cambridge.

Each attendee will be allocated a 30 minute timeslot.

Advanced booking is recommended 👉 https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/76911/Copy-That-Floppy-Saturday-13th-June-2026/

Hope to see you there!

21/05/2026

This weeks features the Sinclair Micromatic Radio! 📻

Once claimed to be the world’s smallest radio!

The Micromatic was released in 1967, and could be bought whole, or as a kit. It was sold until mid 1971, albeit with increased reliability from new components.

The Micromatic sold well and can still be found relatively easy by collectors today. Do you remember this tiny technological curiosity?

18/05/2026

We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Frank Land OBE.

Many of the CCH team had the good fortune to work with Frank as part of CCH's partnership with the LEO Computers Society. Frank was passionate about preserving the artefacts, ideas and stories of the people behind the development of LEO, the world's first business computer, ensuring they remain accessible and inspiring for future generations.

This photo is from our celebration of the LEO Archive and Virtual LEO I project in 2023, and until very recently, Frank was actively involved in planning LEO I's 75th anniversary celebrations this November.

Our colleague Kate Stockwell, The Land Archivist, manages the LEO Archive at CCH on behalf of the LEO Computers Society, and recently wrote about Frank's remarkable life and career as part of The London School of Economics and Political Science - LSE's 130th anniversary: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsehistory/2025/11/28/frank-land-pioneer-professor-and-leo-historian

As she writes, 'Land's story is not only one of technical achievement but of enduring commitment to education, collaboration, and historical stewardship'.

But above all, Frank was quite simply, a lovely man. We will miss him hugely, and our thoughts are with the LEO Computers Society, his brother Ralph and family, friends, colleagues, and all who were touched by his life and work.

17/05/2026

Welcome back to our Nascom 2 restoration series – Part 2! 🎉

The Nascom 2 has had leaking power supply capacitors replaced, the mains wiring renewed, and all memory ICs individually tested. The main board memory was fine, but 3 of the 16 ICs on the 32K board had failed and were replaced. After a thorough clean, it was ready for testing.

On power-up it displayed “NAS-SYS 3”, which is the name of the operating system. Pressing ‘J’ passed control over to the BASIC ROM, after which a simple test program was typed in that successfully counted to 10.

Next up: testing the cassette interface and loading software from tape. After that, the keyboard and reset switch will be reattached, the case reassembled, and a cooling fan fitted. Stay tuned! 😄

16/05/2026

🎲 Build Your Own Electronic Dice ⚡️

Learn to solder, build real circuits and get hands-on!

🎟 Spaces are limited, book via link in bio
📍 The Centre for Computing History, Cambridge
📆 Wednesday 27th May, 3-5pm
⚡ Build Tech. Don’t Just Use It.

Join us for a half term special electronics workshop where you’ll learn how to build your very own electronic die from scratch. Perfect for beginners, makers, gamers and curious minds. You’ll get practical experience with soldering, LEDs, and switches while creating a fully working electronic die to take home!

14/05/2026

Sunday's Retro Computer Club! Good chat, laughs and gaming was had all around 😄💻

We had some great machines out on display:
- A HH Tiger
- An Atari Falcon
- A Compukit UK101 assembled from a kit in the 1980s, still in good working order
- One of our youngest contributors brought in his electronics training kit
- A Thomson TO7/70
Plus a few more, and some boxes of free stuff to rummage through!

Overall a great event, we thank all our volunteers and staff who make this possible, and of course all who come along and create a warm friendly atmosphere! 👏

11/05/2026

📢 Visitor Notice 📢

Please note that The Centre for Computing History will be temporarily closed to visitors on the following date: Wednesday 20th May.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your understanding. See you soon! 💻✨

Address

Rene Court, Coldhams Road
Cambridge
CB13EW

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 5pm
Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Thursday	10am - 5pm
Friday	10am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 5pm
Sunday	10am - 5pm

Telephone

+441223214446

Website

https://bio.site/computinghistory

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