Ada Lovelace in Hinckley

16/06/2026

“Ada in Porlock” group are given maximum support in every way by their MP!

Rachel Gilmour, Lib Dem MP for Tiverton & Minehead is a vocal champion of the Ada Lovelace legacy, actively supporting a community initiative promoting STEM education, highlighting Lovelace's historical ties to the village of Porlock.

Her key involvements with the Lovelace legacy include:-

heavily backing this local project, using Lovelace’s history to boost tourism and inspire local schoolchildren to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

In October 2025, joined local campaigners to unveil a blue plaque honouring Lovelace, marking the computer pioneer's historical residence and woodland walks in the Porlock area.

Parliamentary Advocacy: Rachel promotes the initiative in Parliament giving a notable speech in Westminster marking Ada Lovelace Day, emphasizing how Lovelace's blending of mathematics and art continues to shape modern technology in the UK.
Rachel Gilmour invited the committee to the Houses of Parliament
Ada in Porlock committee members (left to right) Paul Brooks, Jeff Cox, David Wardrop, Dr Stephen Colson, Kathryn Young, Duncan McCanlis, and Jeremy Payne with (front) MP Rachel Gilmour.

15/06/2026

Culbone Church interior, near Porlock Weir and close to Ashley Combe, the Lovelace’s summer home.

The box pew on the right, was used by the Lovelace family.

The reredos was designed by the arts and crafts, furniture, architect and artist, Charles Voysey, a close friend of Mary, also an architect and wife of Ralph, 2nd Earl of Lovelace and Ada’s second son.

A lovely interior and a credit to those who care for it.

14/06/2026

Dr.C.E.Taylor, Professor of Mathematics, Millersville University, Pennsylvania, visited recently. Co-author of several books, one, ‘Powerful Mathematicians Who Changed the World’, and includes a chapter covering Ada, available from Amazon - but expensive!

13/06/2026

12/06/2026

https://youtu.be/MqYpyL5lgWw?is=raAxL38FMIAp-bwm

Underground tunnels Ashley Combe, the Lovelace’s summer home, built mid19th C. by her husband. Sadly, tunnels and remaining garden structures are deteriorating today. We will never see the like again, a great heritage loss in a wonderful location.

What a location this is. Tunnels were originally built, just so the...

10/06/2026

Great initiative by Rachel Gilmour MP!

Supporting “Ada in Porlock” with their initiative to promote Ada Lovelace locally, education and careers associated with STEM in her constituency.

Last week, I had the pleasure of welcoming committee members from Ada in Porlock to Parliament to further discuss their initiative ahead of my speech on Ada Lovelace and promoting women in STEM. 👩‍🔬

A massive thank you to Jeff Cox, Paul Brooks, David Wardrop, and also Rob Schmidt from Greencombe Gardens for travelling up to London! ✅

Lots of exciting opportunities in the pipeline for young people in the Tiverton and Minehead constituency! 🚀

04/06/2026

If you visit Porlock in Somerset, the museum and short walk here are interesting. The coastal path, from Porlock Weir, taking you along the Philosophisers Walk, originally within the grounds of Ada Lovelace’s summer home, passing the “fairy” tunnels which led to her home, fascinating!

31/05/2026

In the Sunday Telegraph today!

St Beuno’s, Culbone, Somerset is one of the most isolated parish churches in England, but a visit is worth the effort
The smallest medieval parish church in England, St Beuno’s can also claim to be the most isolated, sitting 400 feet above the sea, tucked into a deep combe on the Exmoor coast. To reach it, you must turn off the A39 and brave rutted country lanes and muddy farmyards before abandoning your car and clambering down a steep stony track into dark oak woods.

After a mile or so, there’s the sound of a bubbling brook, a glimpse of an emerald-green lawn and there is St Beuno’s, a mix of Saxon and Norman with a dinky Georgian spire. St Beuno established his church here in the sixth century, and the atmosphere is magical and mysterious enough to have inspired Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Kubla Khan, which was written after a visit while staying at nearby Ash Farm.

This church was attended by Ada Lovelace and her family, using their box pew, the only one there.

31/05/2026

Depictions of Ada’s summer home visited by Charles Babbage and many scientists, with wonderful views across the Bristol Channel. Tunnels enabled staff to come and go without disturbing the household. On a hillside above Porlock Weir, a public footpath, The Philosophisers Walk, used by Ada and Charles passes decorative stonework to her husband’s designs.

29/05/2026

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=122198331056790850&id=61573725511000

For all you fans of Ada Lovelace, please look at the work of "Ada Lovelace in Hinckley", who have installed a beautiful statue in the town of her birth to celebrate her extraordinary life and inspire the next generation of visionary scientists.