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Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
consequently towns such as Tweedmouth are so far north, that they are off the
edge of the coloured maps commissioned by in 1968 Martins bank for volume two
of the Bank’s history - Four Centuries of Banking.
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In Service: 8 March 1923
until 1938
Image
© Barclays 1923
Image
© Barclays 1937
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  Please do therefore forgive, this rudimentary effort
(right) which comes from Martins Bank Magazine in Autumn 1965, and is about the closest we
shall come to an accurate map! Berwick
upon Tweed is home to several branches and banking services between joining
the Bank of Liverpool and Martins in 1914 through the merger with the North
Eastern Banking Company, and up to the merger of Martins with Barclays in
1969. At various points during this
time there are sub branches at BERWICK CORN EXCHANGE, LOWICK, SPITTAL
and Tweedmouth, and the unique HOLY ISLAND BANKING SERVICE. That Spittal and Tweedmouth sub-Branches
were ever large enough to be supported by their own business is doubtful, but
nevertheless the Bank of Liverpool and Martins opens them within three days
of each other in March 1923, and they both operate until the outbreak of the
Second World War. Fifteen years or so
should be more than enough to judge whether an outlet is profitable, and
although we have no evidence, we can assume that the closure of these sub
branches is probably well overdue when War comes along. In an age where over 90% of customers would
use only cash, Bank branches are as essential as cash machines are today, but
cold hard economics will always dictate what should be kept on and what
should be got rid of. None of this
ties in of course, with our romantic and nostalgic notions that there should
be branches of Martins Bank in every town and village! We have no opening times for either
Spittal or Tweedmouth, but we would be surprised if they were open longer
than a day or two each week, and they most probably shared hours across the
same days – e.g. one open in the morning, the other in the afternoon.
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