The Museum
Location
The museum is located on the lower ground floor of Hursley House. HLG03, 46 and 27 are located adjacent to each other at the bottom of the stairs accessed from the side of the main entrance to the House. They can also be accessed from the main lower ground floor corridor, as can the newer rooms HLG19, which are next to the West door of the House.
People
The Museum was originally set up by Hursley IBMer Len Peach over twenty years ago, in response to a one-off request for an Open Day. From that start, the Museum has grown in an ad hoc manner.
Terry Muldoon took up the reins in late 2010 as volunteer IBM Hursley curator and following an appeal in April 2011, two more volunteers, Peter Short and Mark Perry, joined the team. Nick Bishop joined the team in 2015, and Peter Coghlan in 2017. Derek Ashmore joined us in June 2023 and Chris in March 2024. Sadly Terry passed away in January 2016, and Peter passed in May 2024.
The Collection
The collection comprises hardware and software, Customer Engineering tools and test equipment, publications, documentation, thousands of photographs, hundreds of video tapes, numerous trophies, and miscellaneous promotional items.
Many of the hardware items are on show in the Museum, as well as in displays in the House. At the moment most exhibits are static, although more and more machines are currently being brought to life; the aim is to bring as many to life as possible in the longer term. Peter has refurbished a 1052 Selectric console printer and built a simple interface to drive it. .
Software
In view of the Hursley Laboratory's current mission, the Museum staff would welcome suggestions of any practicable ideas of how software can be displayed and demonstrated.
The Future
The Museum is continuing to expand its collection, and in line with guidance from the Arts Council, a formal Acquisitions and Disposals Policy is currently being formulated. The Museum staff believe that the Museum should concentrate on:
1. IBM Hursley (including Hursley House)
2. IBM United Kingdom
3. IBM Corporation
That means that some of the artefacts currently held are peripheral to that objective and so may be offered to bodies that can make better use of them, perhaps in exchange for items that are in line with these aims.
Based on this objective, the Museum's current Acquisition Policy is to “take everything badged IBM that we are offered” and then, having acquired objects, sort out what may be used as exhibits, held in reserve or used as spares to bring other equipment back to life.
The Museum does have many gaps in its collection which it would like to fill, and therefore welcomes any offers of IBM “stuff” that is currently cluttering up readers' garages, sheds, and attics.
What's needed is anything developed at Hursley Laboratory especially an IBM 8775 Terminal.