Phyllis Nicklin images then - and now

[Vivienne14]

This thread is for all you Phyllis fans out there (and for any newbies who must surely become admirers too). It's high time we added to Phyllis's work of recording her images of 1950/60s Birmingham. So this thread is dedicated to looking at those images and recording anything that we know has happened to the view since that time. Remember, she was actively taking and recording her images when Birmingham was going through radical change.

If you'd like to, please comment on why you've chosen a particular image (that might be about what it means to you, what's happened to the view, whether you like it, well in fact anything about it you remember or just want to comment on). I'd then like to compile a short write up of reactions to her images and post them on the archived Phyllis Nicklin legacy thread here https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=45167&highlight=Phyllis+Nicklin+legacy

So let's see what's happened since Phyllis did all her hard work in the 50s/60s.





I'll kick off with two images of Caroline Street and compare them with the modern view. I've chosen this view because it's a surviving building and it's one my great grandfather would have seen every day when he worked in Caroline Street as a silversmith. It's a lovely example of a late-Georgian building with lots of different and interesting features. Phyllis took the first photo in 1953 and then went back for another in 1960. (Maybe she liked the building or maybe she thought its disappearance was imminent ?) Another reason it appeals to me is that her second photo tells us that the buildings further along Caroline Street were also used by the Sheffield Smelting Co (but maybe weren't in 1953 as there's a ghost sign above the lower goods entrance/exit in her '53 photo). The building looks better today than ever and shows how well some of the Jewellery Quarter buildings are now being maintained. One downside though; the current occupants have removed the Sheffield Smelting original writing within the large plaque on the wall. Oh well, you can't win 'em all. Viv.

 

[Vivienne14]

Bradford Street
Phyllis recorded a number of views of Bradford Street with some featuring the stretch of road between Alcester Street and Camp Hill. The three views I've selected below of that section of the street were taken in 1954, 1960 and 1968. It's possible she was anticipating the changes to the road system with the development of the B1400 at Camp Hill.

Some buildings at the top of Bradford Street would have disappeared to make way for this new road system. Her 1954, 1960 and 1968 views all capture a nicely proportioned late-18th century/ early-19th century building of symmetrical design. (It's noticeable that the neighbouring buildings are in poor condition throughout that period). It was once the premises of H.E.Empson's tea and coffee merchants who were established in 1911. In its day, it must have inspired confidence in all who worked inside or visited the premises. But sadly it had to go. Viv.

 

[Astoness]

thanks viv such a shame to just see it as an open space now..

lyn