THE 19TH LEO REUNION The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park, Thursday, 31ST October 2024
Narrative by Peter Byford
Thirty members of the LEO Computers Society, some with their wives, plus Simon Allen (Head of Development, Big Yellow Storage) and Anna Ryten (architect for the redevelopment project for 66 Hammersmith Road, formerly Cadby Hall) attended this Reunion event.
The event officially started at 11am, however many arrived a little earlier. Several came some distance, often by train; we had people coming from Hampshire, Kent and Dorset. Train delays meant that some arrived late. Tea, coffee and biscuits were available throughout the event. Peter brought his own collection of LEO and Lyons memorabilia of ashtrays, flowchart template etc. and this also included a folder containing all the information (including attendees) for the first reunion in 1978.
At around 11.30 Peter Byford welcomed the attendees to the 19th Reunion and explained that we were the first people to come to the refurbished TNMoC. Peter welcomed our two guests, Simon Allen and Anna Ryten whose redevelopment project for 66 Hammersmith Road includes references to Lyons and the LEO heritage. They shared many of the drawings and images used in the planning application with the members at the reunion. You can see some of these on this page
Peter then set out the programme for the day which included tours by Vince Bodsworth and Sheridan Williams, volunteer TNMoC guides and members of the Society after lunch.
Jacqui Garrad, Director of TNMoC welcomed us to the museum and said that she was keen to have better links with the Society. This was followed by Vince Bodsworth giving a demonstration of the Virtual LEO 1 display which is being introduced to TNMoC as part of the Society’s Museums Project. Eric Dickens then presented the CLEO Premium bond demonstration, which will also be part of the Museums project. Simon Allen and Anna Ryten showed members the documents and pictures describing their plans for the Hammersmith Road development which were displayed on a table.
We had expected ten raffle prizes, In the event Anna Ryten’s promised prize turned out to be very generous, 6 bottles of champagne. Jacqui Garrad was also generous with 2 bottles of wine and several other items. I would also like to thank Neville Lyons and Frank Land for their prizes. As in previous raffles, Nigella Lawson and Thomas Harding kindly provided signed copies of their books. We also had 3 LEO books donated by the Pinkerton family.
As a result, the majority of attendees were able to win a prize. Bernard Behr brought the Society’s credit card reader and this was used to good effect, although most people paid cash. We sold 35 tickets and made £175. I would also like to thank Mike Tyzack for producing the excellent name labels for the attendees.
After a nice lunch which catered for those with dietary problems, Vince and Sheridan took groups around TNMoC, this included EDSAC and briefly the LEO display which we are looking to improve. Simon and Anna particularly mentioned how they enjoyed the tour around TNMoC. The event finished soon after 4pm.
| ATTENDEES | ||||||
| Simon Allen | Bernard Behr | Derek Bensted | Sue Benstead | Vince Bodsworth | Patrick Blakes | |
| Tom Brooks | Vera Brooks | Bob Brown | Mike Buckley | Peter Byford | Margaret Byford | |
| Bob Crockett | John Daines | Michael Davy | Eric Dickens | Guy Fitzgerald | Bob Harris | |
| John Kappler | Frank Kelly | Val Lawson | Mike Lawson | Douglas Milsom | Chris Reynolds | |
| Anna Ryten | Judy Skillington | Anthony Thorpe | Rosalind Thorpe | Vince Tilley | Ben Tilley | |
| Mike Tyzack | Sheridan Williams |
Some rather noisy video is below.