Birmingham Polytechnic Institution

Before we go on into the rich history of the City of Birmingham Polytechnic we should remember that this was in fact the city's second polytechnic. The first was the Birmingham Polytechnic Institution which operated from 1843 until 1853. At one stage the institution had 500 members who attended guest lectures from the likes of Charles Dickens however the level of support from the working and middle classes was lower than expected which is one of the reasons it only lasted 10 years.

Charles Dickens gave a speech at the Birmingham Town Hall in 1846 for the polytechnic but maybe the most notable guest at the time was the dramatist Douglas Jerrold, one of the "most popular men of the present time", who gave what is said to have been his first public lecture ever at the polytechnic in 1845. The occasion was the polytechnic's second "literary soiree". Jerrold's reception was said to be "most enthusiastic" and admiration was expressed for his characters and writings especially from the working class which it is said he must have found especially gratifying. He was called a "friend of the working man" and a "champion of the poor". He was presented with a gold ring with an onyx stone inside by the Operative Committee of the Fancy Trades of Birmingham!

Another guest was Sir Robert Peel MP who gave a speech on Switzerland in the Town Hall to raise funds for the polytechnic. 

Refs:
 
The Northern Star and National Trades' Journal (Leeds, England), Saturday, May 17, 1845; Issue 392 & Issue 393

The Preston Guardian etc (Preston, England), Saturday, May 14, 1853; Issue 2124 

Birmingham Daily Post (Birmingham, England), Tuesday, December 13, 1870; Issue 3870 

William Kenrick

You always wondered why the library and directorate at City North was called Kenrick didn't you? Oh well just in case you ever did it is because the building (which was built after Attwood to Galton) was named after William Kenrick who was the first chairman of Birmingham Polytechnic.

William Edmund Kenrick FRSA was a prominent Midlands industrialist who held a number of posts in public office in Birmingham and the Black Country as well as running his own hardware company. He was a former chairman of the College of Art & Design and had a key role in the formation of the City of Birmingham Polytechnic of which he became it's first chairman in 1971.

He was not without controversy however. In 1976 he was quoted as saying students at the poly were "second class" and their role was to be "NCOs not officers". This gained him condemnation from the then Perry Barr MP Jeff Rooker.

William Kenrick was killed in a road accident on June 20th 1981 and was immortalised when the new library of the polytechnic was named the William Kenrick Library. It continued with that name until at least 1991 or 1992 when the name became "just" Kenrick. But it remains the nerve centre of the university with the university's Directorate still being housed there as well as the main library and CICT facilities.

Refs:

The Times, Thursday, Jul 09, 1981; pg. 18; Issue 60975; col G
     Mr W. E. Kenrick Prominent Midland industrialist
Category: Obituaries

Labour MP faults universities
JOHN FAIRHALL Education Correspondent The Guardian (1959-2003); Mar 20, 1976; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Guardian and The Observer (1791-2003) pg. 4

The first Director

The first Director of the Polytechnic was Mr S.W. Smethurst MSc FIMA who served as director until September 1979 when he retired. If you remember then the advert for his job in 1970 offered a salary of "£6076-£6500", by 1979 his replacement could expect to receive £15,591!

Ref :

The Observer (1901- 2003); Nov 5, 1978; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Guardian and The Observer (1791-2003) pg. 43. Photograph undated.

Do you want to be the Director of Birmingham Polytechnic?

In February 1970 an advert was run advertising the post of Director of the City of Birmingham Polytechnic. The Governors sought someone "between 40 and 50 years of age to lead a team of over 500 full-time members of teaching staff". A "creative thinker and energetic organiser" were sought for the new establishment which would be a "lively institution".

The salary scale was "£6076-£6500", the Vice-Chancellor these days gets rather more than that. In a sign of the times one of the attributes of the successful candidate are said to be a "proven ability to succeed on the quality of his thinking and his ability to communicate".

Ref:

Classified Ad 1 -- No Title. 1970. The Guardian (1959-2003), February 27,  http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed July 22, 2010).

Perry Barr under construction

These two images are dated September and November 1972 and show Attwood and Baker buildings under construction.

Interestingly both photos are labeled as "City of Birmingham Polytechnic Science & Technology (North) Centre".

A developing campus

An overhead view of the Perry Barr campus probably from the late 1970s. Attwood and Baker have been joined by Cox, Dawson, Edge, Feeney and Galton. However the Kenrick library has yet to be built, this followed in the early 1980s

Establishment

The City of Birmingham Education Committee was invited to submit a scheme for the establishment of a polytechnic for Birmingham in 1967 with existing colleges in the city included in the proposals. The City of Birmingham Polytechnic was designated on January 1st 1971 by the then Education Secretary Margaret Thatcher, making it the 27th polytechnic in the UK. It was formed by combining the Birmingham College of Art and Design, City of Birmingham College of Commerce, South Birmingham Technical College, Birmingham School of Music and North Birmingham Technical College.

The first logo of the polytechnic can be seen on this photograph of some of the earliest prospectuses. As can be seen the first logo took inspiration from the side of Baker building!

North Birmingham Technical College gave the polytechnic its Perry Barr HQ. The college had moved to Perry Barr in 1967 having previously been the Aston Technical College. Work on the first buildings for the new campus (Attwood and Baker) began in 1972.

Refs :

The Times, Thursday, Apr 13, 1967; pg. 18; Issue 56914; col A
 
The Times, Friday, Jan 01, 1971; pg. 4; Issue 58061; col A 

Perry Barr before the campus

A view of Perry Barr before the building of the current City North Campus. Wellhead Lane stretches across the top. Some of the houses along that road and the bus depot are still there of course though much else on this photo has long gone.

Origins

Birmingham had its first polytechnic in the mid-19th century when the Birmingham Polytechnic Institute was formed in 1843 but it only lasted for 10 years (we'll return to this institution at a later date). However the current institution dates from 1971 when changes to higher education in Britain led to the formation of a new wave of polytechnics. The City of Birmingham Polytechnic was formed from a number of existing colleges and became the 27th polytechnic formed in Britain.

The centre of the new polytechnic was Perry Barr campus, to this day the centre of the university though it is split across a number of campuses. The current campus buildings date from 1972-3 when the current Attwood and Baker buildings were built. The image below shows the architect models of the original campus buildings.

The below photo shows the site where the Perry Barr campus was built. So you can gain your bearings the greyhound stadium is in the top left and Wellhead Lane heads off to the right from it.

And today of course it looks like this...

Birmingham Polytechnic to BCU

Welcome to this blog, which will be for the history of and memories of studying and working at Birmingham Polytechnic which later became the University of Central England and later on changed it's name to Birmingham City University.

Presenting myself, i was a student at Birmingham Poly and was there when it changed name to UCE. After graduating i went away then came back and was working there when it changed it's name again to BCU! I've been at the poly/uni for a long time but will require more input and more memories so please feel free to contribute!