COMPUTER bigwigs turned out in force to give the thumbs up to the new home of Swindon’s Museum of Computing.

Gordon Graylish, Intel’s vice-president of Europe, Middle East and Africa, was among a host of VIPs who were given a tour of the UK’s first dedicated computing museum’s new premises in Theatre Square on Wednesday.

Mr Graylish, who cut the ribbon to officially open the new premises, said: “Intel has an interest in educating the next generation of IT programmers, engineers and systems architects.

“We have plenty of museums in the UK covering the industrial revolution of the 19th century but the Museum Of Computing’s depth and breadth lays a rock solid foundation of history of the digital revolution.

“The IT industry has made astonishing progress over the last 30 years and it’s important for that knowledge to be conserved.”

Intel is one of the sponsors of the museum, along with IT PR firm Blue Click PR and local solicitors Clark Holt, who specialise in IT law.

When the museum opens in late July, visitors will see a selection of parts of mainframes, personal computers, portables, laptops, hand-helds, gaming consoles and calculators.

Some of the items available at Wednesday’s official opening included the control panel from a 1950 University of London Atlas computer found in a shed near Wroughton, being used to control a model railway and a Commodore PET 1977 – one of the first all-in-one plug and play computers.

The museum was forced to close in June last year after losing its home at the University of Bath’s Oakfield campus, but was handed a three-year lease for its new home in Theatre Square by Swindon Council in May.