A celebration of Margaret Sale’s life - The National Museum of Computing remembers the woman who helped save Bletchley Park

The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley, 2nd August 2022 – TNMOC invites friends and family to join in celebrating Margaret Sale’s life on 18th September. It will be a great opportunity to remember Margaret and the impact that she had on so many people.

Margaret was a founding member of the Saving Bletchley Park campaign and, along with her late husband Tony, played a pivotal role in keeping the legacy of the Bletchley Park site alive. She was a volunteer for three decades, leading tours, raising funds, organising lectures, and facilitating the rebuilding of iconic computers like the Colossus.

She was an enthusiastic supporter of TNMOC since its founding 15 years ago, leading the supporters’ club and ever-present at the museum to show visitors around. It is thanks to the tireless work of Margaret that visitors are able to experience all that TNMOC offers.

Jacqui Garrad, museum director, said: “Margaret was a treasure to the museum as a whole and to me personally. We are so happy to be able to honour her with the event, and hope that as many of Margaret’s friends, colleagues and loved ones as possible will be able to attend and make it the special celebration of her life that Margaret deserves.”

The schedule for the day is below:

10.30 - Museum opens

11:15-11:30 - Welcome

11:30-12:30 - Networking together throughout the museum, exploring the wonderful legacy left to its Custodians.

12:30-13:20 - Lunch & networking (Afternoon tea)

13:30-15:00 - Hear from Margaret’s family, friends and colleagues - live streamed for those unable to attend the museum in person.

Break - Refreshments & Cake

15:15-17:00 - Enjoy exploring the museum

Those who knew Margaret are invited to bring a picture of her and write a note on the back for the museum’s memory wall.

In order to track numbers, attendees are requested to register on Eventbrite and to please let the museum know in advance if they would like to say something during the 1.30-3pm slot.

About The National Museum of Computing

Located on Bletchley Park as an independent museum, The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) brings to life the history and ongoing development of computing for the inspiration and enjoyment of both the general public and computing enthusiasts. 

TNMOC acquires, conserves, restores, and rebuilds historic computing machinery and related artefacts. The museum displays and interprets its exhibits to tell the history of modern computing, with a particular emphasis on British contributions. Many of the exhibits are maintained in working condition and regularly demonstrated, including the Turing-Welchman Bombe and Colossus code breaking machines from WWII, the Harwell Dekatron Computer, the world’s oldest still working original computer dating from 1951, mainframe computers and minicomputers from the 1960s, 70s and 80s, through home and personal computers of the 90s, to modern tablet computers and smartphones.

The museum runs a highly successful Sandford Awarded learning programme for schools and colleges that introduces computing technology and coding to young people, to help inspire the next generation of computer scientists and engineers. It also runs a popular ongoing programme of hands-on activities during school holidays, offers lectures and interactive events, both on site and via remote Internet access.

https://www.tnmoc.org/