🚀 go-pugleaf

On 03/08/2018 17:13, Mike Causer wrote:
> On Thu, 2 Aug 2018 23:52:31 +0100
> Brian Reay <no...@m.com> wrote:
> 
>>    I was lucky enough to attend a school which had one of the first
>> computers in a school in the UK. I believe it was installed around
>> 1965- it was well established by 1968 when I started. It had been
>> donated by an insurance company.
>>
>>
>> I believe there were only about 4 schools with computers at the time
>> - does anyone have any details?
>>
> I would try checking Hansard, that is the sort of thing an MP wanting
> to attract attention to their constituency would remark on.  Hansard is
> where I found that the computer I used at Wolverhampton Poly was a
> 1620, I hadn't been able to recall the model number but it was in a
> list in Hansard.
> 
> 
> Note to editors:  Hansard is the public record of the speeches in the
> British Houses of Parliament.
> 
> 
> Mike
> 
I've found some more info.

We were the third school in the country to get a computer. Ours was a  a 
Ferranti, donated as I recall, by an insurance company. It seems the 
others were Elliot machines, one in Berkshire and one in Romford.

However, it seems our school was the first to include programming on the 
timetable.

The computer was a beast, it all but filled a classroom. Of course, it 
looked like a computer did in Sci-Fi films of the 60s and 70s, well 
until the latter had spinning mag tapes.

When it was scrapped, I was given a few of the boards (the technician 
knew of my interest in electronics and they are full of parts and could 
be reused). While I made good use of them, sometimes I regret 
'recycling' them.

Even after the school machine was scrapped, teaching of programming 
continued- the school had an arrangement to use the local town hall's 
ICL machine (a 1902 I think). Pupils paper tapes were sent down in the 
evening and the results returned the next day- assuming the programme 
worked.