Bletchley Park - The National Museum of Computing - Family Day

DateSunday 19 Jul 2015
Time

10:30 for 11:00

Location

The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK3 6EB. Directions

Abstract

You are warmly invited to take part in a Family Day in July at Bletchley Park's National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) on Sunday 19 July. Bring all the family - there will be activities suitable for children of all ages.

This event is for members of BCS Bedford and Northampton branches and their families.

Colossus

TNMOC enables visitors to follow the development of computing from the ultra-secret pioneering efforts of the 1940s through the mainframes of the 1960s and 1970s, and the rise of personal computing in the 1980s - including a newly rebuilt and fully operational Colossus, the world's first electronic programmable computer.

TNMOC receives no government or lottery funding and you will be impressed by the enthusiasm of the staff involved in the project including the many volunteers who regularly give up their valuable time to ensure that this ever growing collection is restored and maintained.

You will need to register at https://events.bcs.org/book/1624/.

It would be a good idea to register NOW since the number is limited to a maximum of 50 (25 people from each branch) and the event is heavily subsidised by the BCS. Note that children below the age of 6 years are welcome but will not be included in these numbers (but we still need their details for catering purposes). The cost per person (6 years and over) for the whole day is £10 and this includes a finger/sandwich buffet lunch. Registration is only available to BCS members.

A base room will be made available for use during the day with tea, coffee and water freely available all day. The LEGO will be kept in this room so that those who do not complete the competition in the morning will have the opportunity to try it in the afternoon.

Agenda
10.30am Arrival, registration and refreshments
11.00am Welcome and talk by Guide.
Guided Tour of 'The National Museum of Computing'
OR
Activities for younger children including a LEGO competition
(build a vintage computer from LEGO blocks)
1.00pm Luncheon
After lunch Free-flow through 'The National Museum of Computing'.
You are free to wander at will and enjoy all the interactive displays.
There are a multitude of activities suitable for all ages -
not least vintage games consoles, and a host of other games.
Supervised children would be welcome to participate in Weekend
Codability with Rapid Router from Ocado Technology,
or learn BASIC on a BBC Micro or Raspberry Pi (in its FUZE guise).
Tour of the Colossus and the new NATs and Tunny Galleries
View of the world's oldest original working digital computer
the Harwell Dekatron computer aka 'WITCH'.
The agenda will also include competitions (with prizes) and quizzes.
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