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Midland Educational

I can recall the shop being on the left just past Cherry St in the early 1960's, H.Samuel took over that shop when the Mid Ed moved up the street, facing Lewis's after 1966.....it was the middle shop with three floors, the arts and craft was on the top floor....Mr Ford was the manager in 1968....when I started there...my first job, I was there only for a month...
Do you remember a mini restaurant being next door and also the entrance to Oasis store...
 
There was a store around by the oasis market called the Midland Educational, (i think), remember it as being spread over maybe 2 or 3 floors, had an interesting arts and craft department from what i remember, but don't know much else about it, wondered if anyone else has memories of this store, can't remember when it close and don't seem to remember any other branches.
Yes i remember it as i worked in the mini restaurant which was maybe a couple of shops away and also entrance to Oasis market..(over the rd from Lewis.)
And then you could go down the subway to the mini restaurant CAFE..well remember as i worked at the mini restaurant upto mid 70s..
 
I'm not sure where the Oasis Market was, the Midland Ed I recall was in Corporation Street, near to the 5a bus stop and almost opposite to where C & A were. I've still got a book my mom gave me when I started school, it's a Beacon Reader. Old Lob Introductory Book. There was a second floor, and it always seemed to be stuffed full of books. The shelves overflowing almost.
The education shop moved further up ..(it was opposite Lewis's) and the entrance to Oasis was by it also the Mini restaurant..as thats where i worked till mid 70s..
 
I took early retirement from BT in 1987 and was looking for a part time job but finished up full time at Mid Ed as their van driver (their previous driver had gone hippie and disappeared to Devon), they had no garage so I kept the van at home which saved me travelling expenses. I delivered books and art materials etc... to the schools in Solihull, Sandwell and 3 colleges in Bromsgrove, Droitwich and Worcester, for some reason they had lost the Birmingham contract. I was only there 8 months when they were bought up by Next who closed them down. I felt sad for the staff, most had been there a long time. The manager Mr Baker gave me is old oak desk which I took home in their van and is now in my studio (what a game we had getting it up my stairs top floor in a 3 story town house even though it dismantled into 3 parts), also sold me a load of Art Materials at 20% the true cost. I was sad to leave for I enjoyed the short time I was there. Eric
 
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A friend of mine, Stuart LLang worked there when they closed so he started a book shop in the Jewellery Quarter until his death, his wife Linda also worked there.
Mr Laing was my manager when I worked in the offices 1974/80 I do remember Linda also her sister Ellen I also remember every time a personality came in to sign books etc he would have his camera at the ready.
 
I thought the Midland Educational store was an amazing shop. The only local place you could buy chemistry equipment. I used to love drooling over the rows of test tubes, pots of chemicals and lab equipment.
 
I got my chemical supplies and minor equipment from Philip Harris on Ludgate Hill. On one visit I was told of a job with Philip Harris. The job was not in Ludgate Hill but in their other office in Edmund Street. I walked up to Edmund Street, saw the 'boss' and came away delighted to have got the job. I have referenced this in a Ludgate Hill thread.
It was my last job in the Midlands as we moved to Devon whilst I was there. I was quite disappointed to have to leave as I was really very happy there and was fast learning how everything operated within the various departments of the company.
When I was not busy with my own particular work I was allowed - well no one stopped me from going - to visit other departments and ask lots of questions. In recent years - as we older folk reflect on our past lives - I wondered if the boss had had told others to encourage me as no one told me I was a pain - even if they thought it so. :laughing:
The only time I encountered a slight embarrassment by the foreman was when I asked him what a suppository was.
 
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I went to kings Norton Grammar School and was lucky enough to win school prizes each year to be awarded at Speech Day. We had to choose our prizes (books) from Midland Educational, so I well remember going up and down the stairs, deciding what to choose. The other memory I have is when I passed my Eleven plus. As a reward my dad gave me a harmonica and my mum a book - "The Obeserver's Book of Astronomy" bought from The Midland Educational- I still have both
 
As a kid, encouraged by my science teacher at school, I used to go to Philip Harris on a Saturday morning to buy chemicals and equipment. I seem to remember the place was crowded with kids like me. My dad helped me to make a test-tube rack and my parents encouraged me in my "experiments." One of my favourites was to heat copper sulphate crystals in a test tube over a bunsen burner until the water disappeared and they went from blue to white, and then once cooled to re-introduce water into the test tube and feel the exothermic reaction as the white turned back to blue. Are children allowed to do this kind of thing anymore or does it contravene health and safety rules?
 
dilly, they did have a place in Bath, probably under a different name because I was kept on another week to take the unsold stock there after the closing down sale, I drove 2 or 3 journeys down there, each time they overloaded the van making driving difficult which I was not very happy with. It was a Ford Transit if I remember. Eric
 
Yes the Midland Education was by the Oasis market and was one of my favorite stores as a girl (I love books!). It was a real treat as we would visit only occasionally for something special I had been wanting. Wonderful :)
 
I'm sure I bought my senior school 'starter kit' here. A tin containing a protractor, ruler, set squares and compass for drawing circles. Oxford instruments seems to ring a bell?
 
Hi Elmo and Knobbydave. That tin is absolutely the one. I had a set back in the sixties- long since lost. Do kids use this stuff anymore or is it all computer-generated these days?
 
Bull Ring boy, I can't imagine them being purchased today, however that set is available on Amazon, which although in itself is a 'tool' of today it's dealing a blow to the high street amongst others, present & past
 
Perhaps these objects have such a firm place in our memory because they were tactile. I'm sure you remember the feel of the metal tin as you opened it (with that click and rattling noise of the contents,) the feel of the pencil as you sharpened it to an acceptably sharp point (as well as the smell of the wood and graphite shavings) the concern to ensure the pencil was screwed tightly into the holder on the compass including the fiddling until the pencil point was absolutely in line with the point of the compass arm. Then that measuring of the distance between pencil and point, the precision with which the point was placed upon the paper and then the attempt to trace out a complete circle with just one sweep of the compass. Perhaps for future generations the touch of a computer keyboard will have the same resonance.
 
Perhaps as well it's just that we had more time to do these things. The pace of our lives was slower and these repeated gestures became embedded in kind of muscular memory. My grandfather was a carpenter and cabinet-maker in Birmingham, my uncle too with his own workshop. My dad was also apprenticed but never took up the trade because there was no money in it, but I used to love watching them patiently work the wood. I still have all their tools, some of which I still use, but it's like the "Oxford" mathematics set - to touch them is to unleash a stream of memories, especially of a generation of Brummies whose lives were defined by the dignity of manual skill and labour.
 
I have a picture from Midland Educational co,fine art dept.Anyone know anything about it.It s by E Beaussier.
 

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