I’ve been let out !

Silicon Heaven

You know me, I'm pretty much pigeonholed into being an Atari ST guy who doesn't use anything else. Sure, I have many fond memories of the ZX Spectrums from my youth, but the ST is still my true love. But did you guys know that I've always had a soft spot for other machines? I'd love to find the space (and money) for something like an Amstrad 6128, Oric Atmos, and others on my desk, but that's never gonna happen.

Anyhow, I recently visited a computer museum not too far from where I live. It's pretty cool, with a whole room filled with computers from every era you can remember, from a Commodore PET and Link 480Z (the computer I used at college) to those soulless PCs (that were thankfully running Doom II). Of course, they had everything in between, too. And yes, I really do mean everything - I was in silicon heaven!!

This is a geek's paradise, and impressive to see so many machines up and running. It was like stepping through a portal, and I was in my element (even the wife loved it!). Naturally, I gravitated towards their Ataris, with an STe and Mega ST sitting alongside our deadly enemy. Sadly, the STe was just sitting at the GEM desktop, so I used its Gotek and rebooted. That's more like it, I thought to myself as Frontier loaded.

This belting museum proves just how cool and diverse the 80s were, with so many different computers. Part of me wants to scrap the lot and replace them with a room full of STs, but you can't have everything! Seriously, it's a great day out, and I highly recommend a visit if you're anywhere near Northwest England.

Take a look at some of the naff photographs I took before you visit their website...