In their early years Martin and his elder brother received lessons at home in carpentry (p 498 of ) and manual skills became important for him throughout his life. This was for relaxation – he built boats to his own designs (p 498 of ) – and professionally. In his wartime radar work (), his post-war radio-telescope building (p 510 of ) and his late researches into wind energy (p 517 of ) he was a hands-on practical engineer as well as a scientist.
Ryle also had a lifelong interest in sailing (p 498 of) and this matched his choice when in the 1970s he turned his research subject from astronomy to wind energy (pp 420–422 of)
Another practical skill acquired by Martin in youth that later served him well in his professional career was as a radio ham. While still at School (Bradfield College) he built his own transmitter and obtained a Post Office licence to operate it (pp 498–499 of), with the GB-Callsign G3CY.
In 1936 the family moved to a house in Cambridge which became Martins home after the war. In 1947 he and Rowena Palmer married and they lived in this house for rest of Martins life. They had three children, born in 1949, 1951 and 1952. Ryle died on 14 October 1984, in Cambridge. He was celebrated on a first class stamp issued in 2009 as part of an Eminent Britons set. Lady Ryle died in 2013.
Ryle was an amateur radio operator, and held the GB-Callsign G3CY.