@roycv I was there from '79-'83. Turned up just in time for a war. I had not long finished coding the Insert/Delete Vessel command before it was being used for real...

Hi Dodgy, I am sure he was a peripheral eng. at the time.
Roy

@roycv

Did you know my mate Cliff Thomas?

Was he an engineer? It's not a name I recall, but I was a programmer/database specialist at the time, working on the 2960, and we weren't meant to touch any of the hardware!

We had a boss who used to play the pub fruit machines around the area, and he set us to documenting all the reels so that he could know when to nudge them. We used the backs of punched cards for this, and one day one of the team dropped some as he was coming up, in front of one of the Marine guard stations. Unauthorised removal of data from a command centre would, of course, be a major security breach, and of course the punch cards had data on them...

"What are these that you're taking out?"
"Just old cards"
"What do they do?"
"They're old used ones, see? They have lots of holes punched in them."
"Oh. Well, that's all right then..."

Happy days when no one understood computing...

@DodgyGeezer Hi, Down the hole!!! I was scheduled to manage the ICL computer down there then some plans changed and I never went down. Did you know my mate Cliff Thomas?
Roy

@ColRay "....along the A1 towards London destination Mill Hill and that treasure trove of model delights Blunts Model Shop. Anyone remember that shop ? ."

Of course we do! I lived in Edgware and used to cycle, or take the 142 bus to the Broadway if I was expecting to bring back a big box - I still have various items bought from there. North-West London up to Ivinghoe where I used to slope soar, or the Elstree reservoirs where I sailed my Aerokits boats was my stamping ground. Mostly long gone now, of course.

Then I got a job down the 'Hole' at HMS Warrior - the Northwood Navy command and control centre. Unofficially I used to tinker with the card punch machines when they failed, and still have a power supply and some motors off one in my garage....

Hi Col, I know where you mean. When I first worked in Watford I was based at 119A St. Albans road which is opposite, (it is now the midnight motor shop, excellent service by the way).
It was a bureau that would produce punched cards for data processing I was an engineer on the big calculators, about the size of a small car. They worked very well but there were 3 of us electronic specialists and we all loved going out to mend them!
However there was no room for us to sit and wait. So we went to the cafe on the way to the Watford train station and played chess. One of us always had a view of the upstairs window of our call centre looking out for the towel hanging out of the window if we were needed.
Those were the days!
Roy

I recall the planes I could only dream about and timber/metal rack set in the counter Col

Roy For a short while I worked for Fishburn's Printing Inks in Watford.
So, living in Watford your near the north London suburb of Barnet and just over the Great North Road is where I once called home Well End blink and you will miss-it Col

@ColRay Hi, It was on my route home from work for several years, I was a computer engineer working at The Bank of England and lived in Watford, still do. HA Blunt was the shop and there was a nice service road alongside to park. There was always something 'I needed' and frequently bought ahead especially when they had a sale. I remember buying the fittings set for a Billing Mary Ann, I bought the actual kit some years later. I have 2 afloat and another kit waiting.
They also used to manufacture a few kits, the tug Alfred, I have the plans, a nice paddle steamer, Forties off shore oil rig supply ship etc. Staff were nice lovely shop.
My job location changed to Watford and I do not remember returning but nice memories.
Roy