In January we combined a trip to Milton Keynes to see the Vanessa Bell exhibition with a trip to The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park. We spotted the museum on a visit to Bletchley Park back in 2019 and promised we would return one day.

The National Museum of Computing with teenagers

At The National Museum of Computing you can immerse yourself in the evolution of computing from the pioneering efforts of the 1940s to the rise of personal computing in the 1980s and beyond. Both my kids love their tech so I thought they would enjoy a few hours exploring this museum which can be found close to Bletchley Park.

It houses the world’s largest collection of functional historic computers and World War II machines, including Enigma, Lorenz, the working Turing-Welchman Bombe, the rebuilt Colossus (the world’s first electronic computer), and the WITCH (the world’s oldest working digital computer).

The museum has plenty of volunteers around to explain the different machines on show. The displays are mainly chronological so you can learn more about how computers have evolved. They also run some of the machines so you can experience the sight and sound of them.

There is a lot of information but plenty of interactive exhibits too, which helped with possible information overload. My daughter loved the chance to use these.

As we progressed through the museum we found more recent exhibits, it was strange to see machines my Dad had used and ones I had used at school in a museum.

The teens thought this exhibit was also hilarious. Remember Palm Pilots and BlackBerry? They seem so recent but now they are also in the museum! The pace of change is terrifying and it makes you wonder how things will continue to change over the next 20 years.

We spent around 2 hours at the museum but felt we could have spent longer. That was the perfect length of time for the kids and we finished up with a trip to the cafe and gift shop.

My daughter opted for one of the kids trails which kept her busy, whilst my son snapped away with his camera. They both enjoyed their visit, and we would be happy to visit again another day.