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Martins Bank’s Amble Branch has a number of outlets
in this part of  Northumberland, and throughout most
of the 1960s, the sub-Branch at Acklington RAF Station is on hand to meet the
banking requirements of the officers and men who are stationed there. The Bank opens up shop in a number of
workplaces over the years, tailoring banking to the needs of employees in a
number of industries, from chemical works and paper making, to a hospital, an
abbatoir and of course, TWO
RAF Stations.
 Our
friends at Barclays tell us that unfortunately they have no photographic
record of the Branch, and that nowadays the site is occupied by HM Prison
Service. If therefore you have memories or images of our Branch at RAF
Acklington, please do get in touch with us at the usual address - gutinfo@btinternet.com. Someone who has done just that, is Jim
Scott who remembers well working at Amble’s various sub Branches in the
1960s. We apologise for the rather
grainy image of Jim, whose recollections of working at the Amble
sub-Branches, including RAF Acklington, are shown below:
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In Service: 1963 until 1969
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 “We used a mini
van from Amble to visit the sub-Branches at Warkworth, Red Row and RAF  Acklington. I
drove, with a pensioner as Guard, and a case with the cash stationery and
rubber stamps! The Bank was housed in
a row of wooden RAF Huts. It had room for customers to wait, a chair for the
guard, and a small counter for me to stand behind - quite adequate! Transactions were basic, mainly cashing
cheques for everyone without any need for ID.
They simply handed over their cheque, signed an exchange slip, and I
gave them the cash. There was always a
queue of all ranks but the CO always came to the front when he arrived and
was served amongst a background of saluting and feet stamping! The RAF were
training our Allies in Jets at this time and the cheques cashed had colourful
names from many different parts of the World.
We never had any problem with returned cheques as of course every
officer was a gentleman!”
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