Next Events
London
20th Nov 2025
The Cambridge Multiple-Access System
See lectures page for more information
Historic Document Rescue
From time to time the Society is approached by people who have come into the possession of documents relevant to historic computers and who feel that they should “go to a good home”.
Unfortunately the Computer Conservation Society is no longer in a position to collect such material, though we can sometimes suggest a suitable home for it. If you have a need to dispose of historic material we suggest that you should first read our guide Archives and your Personal Papers.
In particular, we should stress that a list of the document titles is essential before any progress can be made.
Document Exchange within the CCS
Because CCS members use widely differing IT systems, difficulties sometimes arise when documents are sent between members. In an attempt to minimise such problems a page of guidance notes can be found here.
The web page also contains useful information for authors of articles in the CCS journal Resurrection.
News
November 2025
On Saturday15th of November the BBC broadcast an edition of their long-running series Desert Island Discs when the guest was Sir Tim Berners-Lee. There was much discussion of the lives of his parents Conway and Mary Lee Berners-Lee both of whom will be well-known to many CCS members as computing pioneers at Ferranti in the 1950..
Now available from BBC Sounds at www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002m96c.
October 2025
We are distressed to have to report the passing of a stalwart of the Society, Professor Simon Lavington FBCS.
Simon graduated in Electrical Engineering at Manchester University in 1962. He gained a PhD for his pioneering research in automatic speech recognition utilising the Atlas computer.
Moving to the University of Essex in 1986, as Professor of Computer Science, Simon led the Intelligent File Store (IFS) project, which was granted a BCS Silver Medal for Technical Achievement.
Following retirement in July 2002 he researched and wrote about computer history, his passion since 1970. He wrote numerous journal articles and books on the history of computing with a focus on early British computers during the period 1945 to 1970
Simon was an energetic researcher and above all, a good friend who will be missed by many
The Computer Conservation Society was founded in 1989 as a joint venture between the British Computer Society and the Science Museum in London. It has subsequently become closely associated with the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester and The National Museum of Computing in Bletchley Park.
Our primary mission is to preserve historic computers, develop awareness of the history of computing, and encourage research. We run many specialised projects, organise public lecture series, and publish a regular journal.
Membership of the society is open to all. If you would like to join the society, please click here for more information.