HistoryEarly Days
In March 1984 Trevor Hutchinson of Linton had the foresight to start a club for those interested in the relatively new hobby of computing. The computer that was promoted by the education authorities and used by most of the first members of the Club was the Acorn BBC, so the club became known as the Beeb Users' Group, or BUG Club for short. In those days computers were not as ubiquitous as they are now, hobbyists or large companies with mainframes being the main owners. The thirst for knowledge about this new pastime resulted in 30 enthusiasts joining the Club, who met at the Model Railway Club premises on Church Gresley Common.
Moira & District Miners Welfare
With the increasing rent for the James Street premises in 1990, the Club moved to the Moira & District Miners' Welfare building in Bath Road Moira and for the first time in the history of the Group, members had access to a bar during the meetings. Other social events were held including BBQs during the summer months.
By now all computers in the Club were PCs. Visits to computer shows at Earls Court, Alexandra Palace and the NEC were organised with members returning loaded with components. A period of computer construction began. In 1991 a computer with a 486 - 33 MHz processor, 8 Mb RAM and a 100 Mb hard disk cost £1,760. So "build your own" was all the rage, and this lead to a rapid increase in the knowledge and understanding of computer hardware.
First move - to Midway
Three months after formation, the cold quarters of the Railway Club were left and the Bug Club moved to the Rowland Memorial Church Hall in James Street Midway meeting every two weeks on Wednesday evenings. Talks, demonstrations and competitions based on the BBC computer continued there for another three years. Dramatic changes were ahead when Alan Sugar put the Amstrad PC on to the market and sent shock waves through computer industry in the 80's.
It was from this period that the evidence of Moore's Law became apparent. (Moore's Law states that every 18 months the capacity and speed of computers doubles.)
Oakthorpe, Donisthorpe, Hartshorne then Overseal
The modifications to the room at Moira resulted in a serious reduction of the space used for meetings, and in 2002 the SDCUG looked for another venue.
After a prolonged search for other premises, in 2003 for a short period, the Club met at the Junior School at Oakthorpe which had excellent facilities, but unfortunately it was only available during normal school term time, was not exclusive to the SDCUG and had to be vacated by 9 p.m., so this was regarded as only a temporary expedient.