SWINDON Borough Council entered the Computer Age 47 years ago.

It was at the beginning of August that its shiny new NCR Elliott 4100 machine entered service.

In a year when a comfortable family home in Swindon could be bought for £2,500, the computer cost £66,000 and was housed in a £15,000 specially-built, air-conditioned, dust-proof, fire-alarmed annexe at the Civic Offices.

In terms of processing power, it was probably equivalent to a tiny corner of a modern mobile phone – perhaps 32 or 64K – but in 1967 it was among the most advanced models of its kind, and only two councils had them. Data was stored on large magnetic tapes.

Adver reporter Leigh Edwards revealed that the computer would tackle everything from payroll to calculating interest on the council’s outstanding loans.

He added: “The machine which will do all this is quite unlike the layman’s idea of a metal monster with flashing eyes and operators running around outside, ministering to its every need.

“In fact it consists of a number of small cabinets, none larger than a double wardrobe, tastefully finished in green and beige.

“The floor beneath the computer is hollow, and tiles can be lifted off to expose the cables snaking around underneath. A fire warning system extends beneath the floor and throughout the building, and is connected directly to the fire station.

“The operator feeds information into the machine on yards of punched paper tape which wriggles across the floor, and types instructions onto a keyboard so that the machine will know what to do with its latest intake.

“What is unexpected is seeing the computer typing remarks back to the operator, in a strange mechanical language of its own.

“Sometimes it merely advises its minions that a certain file or record is ‘invalid,’ and when it has completed its tasks it obediently asks ‘Wot Nx Do?’ meaning ‘What do I do next?’ “Let us hope that when all the records are finally stored away on that magnetic tape, and the Corporation is completely dependent on that metal brain, it does not suddenly realise its superiority over the slow-brained operatives around it and demand, ‘Why Nx Do?’”

If any of our readers remember working on the machine, or have other memories associated with it, we’d like to hear from them.