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Phyllis Nicklin's Career

Vivienne14

Kentish Brummie Moderator
Staff member
Introduction

This archive has been created to celebrate the life and work of Phyllis Nicklin. This thread documents her career. Thank you to all BHF members who contributed information to this archive.

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Phyllis Nicklin - her career

Members of BHF have for a number of years admired and discussed the photographic work of Phyllis Nicklin. Her work shows her skill at recording and illustrating the major changes taking place in and around Birmingham in the 1950s and 60s. A major driving force for this work was her awareness of the rapid change taking place and the consequent loss of a valuable heritage. Over time she built up a large collection of images, some of which were used in her work as Tutor in Geography at Birmingham University.

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At the same time, she was making a significant contribution to the Birmingham Geographical Association and the teaching of her subject. Longer term it was her intention to use her photographic resource for a book covering the historical, geographical and social perspectives of Birmingham and the Midlands, but sadly she died before she was able to do so. Despite this, her many achievements and contributions in the field are well respected and highly valued, as shown in the extracts below.


A tribute provided by Professor Carl Chinn:

"She attended George Dixon Grammar School for Girls and went on to Birmingham University where she obtained her BA in Geography 1930 and MA in 1931. In 1934 she published a lil pioneering article on 'The Early Historical Geography of the Forest of Arden' in the Transactions of the Birmingham Archaeological Society. In the same year she was appointed Senior Geography Mistress at Sutton High School and ten years later became Lecturer in Geography at Nottingham University, where she also took responsibility as Sub-Warden of the Women Students Hostel.


In 1946 Phyllis accepted a post, which brought her back to the West Midlands, as Lecturer in Geography at Dudley Training College. Four years later, in 1950, she was appointed Lecturer and later Staff Tutor in Geography in the University of Birmingham's Extra-Mural Department, a post she held until her death on 18 November 1969".

Posted on BHF by Astoness



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An extract from Phyllis Nicklin's obituary in ‘Geography, Vol. 55, No. 2, April 1970 – (c) The Geographical Association':

"With the sudden and untimely passing of Miss P. A. Nicklin, for many years the indefatigable Honorary Secretary of the Birmingham Branch, the Association in particular and geography in general has lost one of its staunchest adherents. A graduate and postgraduate of the University of Birmingham, Phyllis Nicklin gained wide teaching experience in schools and colleges before becoming Staff Tutor in Geography to the Extra-mural Department at Birmingham. For well over twenty years she has been the driving force behind what is possibly the most successful liaison between an academic department, an extra-mural department, and a local branch of the Association that could be found in any university city. In that time she saw the growth of the Branch to a present membership of 1200, the holding of a most successful Spring Conference in Birmingham in 1965, and the publication by the Branch of a series of excursion guides to the West Midlands. She will be long remembered for her valuable contributions to Council and Executive meetings, for the stimulating courses that she arranged on behalf of thousands of extra-mural students, for her well-organized excursions, and, not least, for her kindly, effective and dedicated service to the Birmingham Branch".

Posted on BHF by Toby 44


An extract from Avril Maddrell's book "Complex Locations: Women's Geographical Work in the UK, 1859 - 1970":

"Phyllis A Nicklin, a graduate and postgraduate of Birmingham University, was a temporary lecturer at Nottingham University during the 1939-1945 war, .... then pursued a career in teaching then teacher training before being appointed staff tutor in geography at the extra-mural department at the Birmingham University. She was described as 'the indefatigable Honorary Secretary of the Birmingham (Geographical Association, GA) branch' which had a strong membership, allowing them to organise a Spring Conference in 1965 and publish excursion guides to the West Midlands. She was also a popular speaker at other GA branches, for example, the Crewe and Nantwich branch in 1959 and again in 1963. Within the national organisation, Nicklin served on the Council and Executive Committee. On a personal level she was remembered for her kindness, efficiency and her stimulating extra-mural course and field excursions (GA 1970). 'Miss Nicklin was considered a great rock in the world of geographical education and spent over twenty years as the driving force behind what is the most successful liaison between an academic department, extra-mural department, and the local branch of the Association that could be found in any University city" (Source: GA 1970 232 - 3)"

Posted on BHF by Vivienne14


All photographs by Phyllis Nicklin.
 
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