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Brumpic - Phyllis Nicklin
David Oram, CPD centre manager,
College of Medical and Dental Sciences , University of Birmingham
It’s safe to say, that even 45 years after her death, Phyllis Nicklin has been integral to the success of Brumpic. The stunning, colour photographs she took of Birmingham during the 1950s and 60s are often the most engaged-with images that we share. They are visually stunning and of huge historical importance; Nicklin’s work – to this day – stands its ground with that of many of her contemporary’s such as Vivian Maier and Fan Ho.
Brumpic approached the University of Birmingham in October 2014 to seek permission to use a number of the
Nicklin images for an article in the Birmingham Post. The permission was very kindly granted and away we went to
choose 12 images from the existing digitised archive of 446 images (they can be viewed at www.epapers.bham.ac.uk).
The article was released in December and all parties were pleased with the result. The University made contact with
Brumpic again in December 2014 to make us aware that there was a large number of 35mm slides in a filing cabinet
Above: Birmingham Bull Ring Market Hall opened 1834 at a cost
on the Selly Oak Campus, and that there may be further unseen Nicklin images within that filing cabinet. After a brief viewing of the slides, our hopes were realised. The initial sorting of the slides reveals that there are approximately 1,100 slides and over 600 of these remain unseen by the general public. So now, in collaboration with the University, Brumpic have begun the task of scanning the 35mm slides.
Phyllis Nicklin is an enigma. Little is known about her and we don’t know why she decided to take the photographic
images she did, or indeed the equipment she used to do this. We do know one thing for certain though, she has
bequeathed us with a stunning visual photographic legacy of Birmingham and for that we are exceedingly grateful.
Phyllis Amelia Nicklin was born on Sunday 9th May 1909 and was the first born child of Charles Horace and Amelia
Jane Nicklin (née Wright). At the time of her birth her parents were living in Aston, Birmingham. Her father Charles Horace Nicklin, born in Aston, would marry Phyllis’s mother, Amelia Jane Wright in July 1906. Her mother, like her grandmother, all shared the name ‘Amelia’ carrying on a family tradition that went as far back as the early 1800s in their family.
By the time the 1911 census was taken, the family were living at 18 Link Road, Birmingham. The family home consisted of Charles, his wife Amelia, and Phyllis who was approaching her second birthday.
Charles was working as a commercial traveller, specialising in drapery. Charles and Amelia would have a second child, Harold Charles Nicklin, in June 1920, however sadness would soon effect this family when Charles died later in the year, leaving Amelia a widow with two young children Life would have been difficult, living through the country’s great depression and seeing the outbreak of World War 2.
Local electoral roles show that following the death of her husband, Amelia and the children would move from Link
Road, into Gillott Street where they would live with Amelia’s own widowed mother, Elizabeth. As the family grew up,
Harold would marry and leave the area, however Phyllis would remain living in Birmingham with her mother until they both sadly died in 1969.
Amelia Jane Nicklin died on the 17th June 1969 at her home, 16 Middle Park Road, Selly Oak. Phyllis would be
the official witness to her mother’s death, and would sadly pass away herself months later on the 18th November at the
Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Phyllis Nicklin was a graduate and postgraduate of the University of Birmingham, and was
a temporary lecturer at Nottingham University during World War 2. She then pursued a career in teaching and teacher
training before being appointed staff tutor in Geography at the extra-mural department at the University of Birmingham.
What resonates the most with us about this collection is its simplicity and honesty. Taken over a 16 year period, many
of the images capture the beginning of the social housing revolution and the great changes taking place in Birmingham
during this period. Nicklin, though, was clearly not an amateur photographer. Many of the subjects she chose to
photograph must have been seen as mundane at the time she was taking them, however the composition of many of her
images is extraordinary. These images would have been used to aid Nicklin’s teaching at the University and she couldn’t
have imagined how significant her work would become in future years. Brumpic has done its utmost to celebrate her work over the last 12 months via numerous articles in local media publications, a four month outdoor exhibition in the city
centre, a short film and a collaboration with Birmingham based artist Reuben Colley. The outdoor exhibition has now
moved to the University of Birmingham and is accessible 24/7 for the foreseeable future.
Brumpic, the simplest of ideas began life as a Twitter account in October 2013. The intention was never to amass a large
number of followers or even spark the interest that it has, but to raise our own awareness as we searched for images and
information about this, the second city. The huge changes that Birmingham has endured over the last 60 years, some for better, some for worse, evoke passionate and nostalgic memories for many of us. Snow Hill Station, Rackhams, Lewis’s, the original library (to name but a few) hold bittersweet memories for all – Who can remember those halcyon days Birmingham is much maligned, but rarely bettered. The community spirit, magnificent diversity and our endearing
sense of humour make us Brummies what we are and what we will always be.
Further details will be released via our Twitter account
@brumpic, our Facebook account – This is Birmingham –
and our website: www.brumpic.com.
The University of Birmingham owns over 450 slides
by Nicklin. These may be viewed online at