Main Image: John Leng, now 90, established the UK’s first DEC office in Reading and appears on a digital wall as part of the DIGITAL Revolution exhibition and is one of the interviewees published on the AIT website. Photograph by Reading Museum
The personal stories of 21 former workers of the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) have been curated and published on Archives of IT’s (AIT) website as part of a collaboration with Reading Museum’s DIGITAL Revolution project and The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC).
Reading Museum’s DIGITAL Revolution project, which began in 2023, has recorded 31 oral history interviews in total with pioneers from DEC, conducted by Gavin Clarke and his team at Blended Past.
These interviews also feature in a current exhibition at Reading Museum that explores the story of DEC opening its UK headquarters in Reading in 1964 and the influence it and the subsequent technology industry had on the town, resulting in it being referred to as the UK’s ‘Silicon Valley’.
DEC became known for its pioneering design and production of the minicomputer through its PDP line. By 1988 it was named the second largest computer company in the world.
Fascinating insight
The DIGITAL Revolution interviews provide a fascinating insight into the development of DEC and the UK IT industry in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, and the backgrounds of Reading’s DEC staff who occupied a wide range of positions such as interns, managers, software developers, engineers, financial analysts and customer service representatives.
Interviews include:
– John Leng, DEC’s engineering manager who established the UK’s first DEC office in Reading
– Dr Mike Burrows, student intern and then researcher, who went on to co-create the Alta Vista search engine in 1995
– Trudy Norris-Grey, financial analyst at DEC, who became one of the first female leaders of a UK Tech Company
– Dr David Probert, special projects manager at DEC, who went on to develop Europe’s first internet.
Valuable addition to the archive
The interviews now featured on the AIT website are a valuable addition to the archive and have been documented by AIT’s Archivist, Stephanie Nield, and all feature transcripts and summaries. They are also presented on AIT’s YouTube channel with nine also featuring on TNMOC’s YouTube channel. AIT aims to publish the remaining interviews in the coming months.
Archives of IT CEO, Tola Sargeant, said: “We are delighted to be giving the exhibition’s interviews with DEC’s inspiring pioneers a home in our archive, ensuring they are available for future generations to study and enjoy.”
Adele Barnett-Ward, Reading Borough Council’s Lead Councillor for Leisure and Culture, said: “Reading Museum’s DIGITAL Revolution exhibition is exceptional, honouring the legacy of DEC and ensuring its impact on Reading’s history is preserved for future generations. The exhibition shares the town’s untold hi-tech history and explores ideas about how an unfolding digital revolution is influencing Reading’s present and future.
“Tech can be a forward-looking industry, and we felt there was a need to tell that story of what happened in the 1960s in the words of these interesting characters before they are lost for future historians of digital history in the UK.”
Reading’s Museum’s DIGITAL Revolution exhibition is free to visit and runs until 24 December 2025.
Funding and partnership
The project was funded by a grant of £87,145 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and hosted in partnership with TNMOC. It follows a community display at the museum in 2024, which coincided with TNMOC’s DEC anniversary exhibition, Digital Britain: The Road from Reading. Further generous funding and support also came from Dexodus, Decus and local charity RG Spaces.
Main Funders:
Interviews conducted by:
