If you grew up using an Amiga, BBC Micro or Sinclair Spectrum then The Cave, an area packed with vintage computers, games and consoles from the 1970s onwards, will stir childhood memories.
It evolved from Neil Thomas’s hobby of repairing retro computer technology and sharing videos on YouTube. His channel, RMC – The Cave, has grown and now has more than 100,000 followers and Neil uses The Cave as a studio for creating new videos.
“It’s a hands-on retro computer gaming exhibition – I’m reluctant to call a museum because it is a space where I actively encourage you to come and play on the games and enjoy all of these old retro computers and consoles,” said Neil.
“It includes games consoles and computers from the last 40 years. It includes tabletop games and handheld devices and even some classic arcade machines. We’ve got a machine that goes back to 1979 – Galaxian – so I think there’s something for everyone who’s ever played a video game at least once in their life.”
Neil spent the past 18 months assembling the exhibition on the top floor of a nineteenth-century mill in Chalford: “The best part of building this has been seeing the reaction of people as they walk through the door.
“You just see grown people turn into children again when they walk into this place. I think that’s when I knew that I’d got the look and the feel of this place right when I saw those reactions. If you want to visit.”
The Cave will open to the public later in the year, and tickets must be booked for each visit through Neil’s website where you can find more details: www.rmcretro.com/visit-the-cave
