[trh01uk]

After quick read of that link you provided Andy, it sounds to me like a similar situation is developing here as happened at Bletchley Park. There is the snazzy commercial side of the operation, which no doubt makes lots of money and keeps visits "entertained". It no doubt does a good job of the social history side of the Bletchley Park operation - that's the stuff the "ordinary bod" who wanders in off the street can easily access and understand.

Then there is the serious side, the National Computing Museum, which runs on a shoestring and does the serious historical research into equipment. And a quite remarkable job they have made of it with the reconstructed Colossus and Bombe to show fully working. The trouble with this is of course that the ordinary public can't be persuaded to part with much money to take this kind of thing on board. Its all to abstruse, too difficult, too "head taxing" for someone who is challenged by operating their (modern) TV.

I've struggled with overcoming this problem for a very long time, and various guises, and never yet found any solution to it. The only possible way forward is to get groups of people who are interested to band together, to co-operate and find the funding etc, etc. That has proven seriously difficult - actually impossible from my limited experience. And I suspect the Duxford Radio Group only succeeded where others failed because they had a huge leg up from the IWM in the form of free premises, free electricity, and so on. All other big museums I've looked out sooner or later fall by the wayside because they cannot find a sustainable financial model that outlasts the enthusiasm of a particular (usually small) group of volunteers.


Richard

P.S. I wonder if Phil Judkins will pick this up, and help them? Seems to me that one possible group that might step in is MRATHS at Malvern, possibly with Phil's facilitation. Trouble is that both Phil and I are "persona non grata" at Duxford Radio Society......