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Phillip Harris Medical

T

turves green 56-60

New Member
Hi
My name is James and I worked at Phillip Harris Medical in the Kings Norton Factory Centre near the canal. I know of the Ludgate Hill factory but did not work there. We made all sorts of scientific demonstration instruments from optical models to all sorts of test instruments for students to learn the basic principles of science. These were all made by hand and assembled. We used light machines, lathes and polishers and the instruments we made were made of wood, brass and ebony/bakalite. We made all the coils used in the galvonometers. The time I spent during 1961 to 1964 I really enjoyed. I then moved to Witton electronics near Aston. If anyone remembers the unit at Kings Norton I would be pleased to hear from you
 
hi have moved this thread from forum rules to the correct section of the forum which is factories and offices...could we once again please ask members before starting a new thread to take a min to scroll down the main page as we usually have a section for most topics...thanks

the team
 
Morturn said:
Hi and welcome to the Birmingham History Forum. I don’t hold any memories of the Kings Norton Factory, but have fond memories of the Ludgate Hill Branch. There is a thread here https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/threads/philip-harris.56510/#post-796397

They made some super high quality scientific stuff for schools and university’s and are still trading today
Click to expand...
I had a very close friend that worked at Ludgate Hill. It’s a long time ago but we spent a lot of time together and talked about work in the late 50’s early 60’s, I do not recall him saying anything about Kings Norton.
 
The 1963 Kellys does not apparently list any Kings Norton address.
Harris (Phillip) Ltd
63/66 Ludgate hill 3 (T N Central 4041); 50 Birmingham. Factory Centre 30 & (-works) 17 Highgate sq.Moseley rd 12
However if we look into the Birmingham Factory Centre:
Birmingham Factory Centre (Slough Estates Ltd. proprietors), Birmingham Factory centre, Melchett rd.King's Norton 30.
So the business was presumably at unit 50 of the Factory Centre, shown in red below

map 1950s showing unit 50 Birmingham buisness centre , Melchett Road.jpg
 
Richard Dye said:
I had a very close friend that worked at Ludgate Hill. It’s a long time ago but we spent a lot of time together and talked about work in the late 50’s early 60’s, I do not recall him saying anything about Kings Norton.
Click to expand...
James.
Hi. This map is correct. Shown in red the unit is tucked away as the last unit in the block and backs on to the Worcester and Birmingham canal as I noted in my first posting. I used to cycle to Phillip Harris from Turves Green. In those days the roads were quiet. Sadly I have no other recollection but do remember some of the units near Phillip Harris including a foundry towards the top right of the map.
I remember the canal used to freeze over in winter and the lads came out at lunch time and used to skate on the ice.
There was a workforce of about 20 in total. You can see a greyed out building to the bottom left of the red building, that was used as a tea / rest room. Thanks for the information. Hope that this will jog a few memories.
 
There is already a thRead about Philip Harris with more detail:
Radiorails

Post in thread 'Philip Harris'

There a few details about Philip Harris in the Buildings at risk thead and also the one detailing the Ludgate Hill department.
I worked for a short while at Edmund Street, 1953/4 but a family move to Devon put pay to that. I liked working there.
  • Appreciate
 
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