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 This is Martins Bank’s Branch at
Timperley, decked out with the kind of mock tudor effect that the Bank is
particularly fond of, due to the public perception of such buildings being
very old. NANTWICH, STRATFORD UPON AVON, SHREWSBURY and SWANSEA are all good examples.
Martins
Bank Timperley Branch on 2 December 1929, not very long after the
amalgamation of the Bank of Liverpool and Martins with the Lancashire and
Yorkshire Bank. It is in fact, a bumper year for new Branches of the Bank, as
illustrated below (right) which is extracted from the Bank’s Annual Report
and Accounts for 1929.
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In Service: Pre 1928 until
Friday 4 May 2018
Image © Barclays Ref
0030-2931
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Hull
Daily Mail 9 December 1929
Image © Northcliffe Media Limited Image
created courtesy
of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. Image
reproduced
with kind permission of The British Newspaper Archive
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Extracted from Martins Bank’s Report and Account for 1929
Image © Barclays
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Timperley
is a self accounting sub branch to Broadheath until its promotion to full
branch status in 1969. At this point Mr Highley, Clerk in Charge of three
years, finds himself promoted to Manager.
In our feature, his predecessor Mr Hargreaves is retiring after ten
years in charge…
  on april 29 twenty-five past and present
members of the staff met at Timperley branch to mark Mr Hargreaves'
retirement as Clerk-in-Charge. Among those present were Mr F. Tunstall
(Manchester District Superintendent of Branches) and Mr Eric Matthews, who
retired as Manager of Portland Street branch in 1965. After all had been fortified with food and drink, Mr J.
A. Coombes (Manager, Broadheath) made a humorous speech, referring to his
pleasure in working with Mr Hargraves over the last ten years. He then presented him with his colleagues' cheque.
Mr Hargraves, in reply, said how much he had
enjoyed his years in the Bank, thanked his friends for the gift, and
expressed his intention of buying a pedometer as he is a very keen walker.
A short while before his retirement Mr Hargraves
bought a house in Norwich and as Mrs Hargraves had already made the move, she
was unfortunately unable to attend the ceremony. Mr Hargraves, who had earlier been entertained to lunch
at Spring Gardens by his District General Manager, began his career at
Blackburn branch in 1922 and served at many branches in the Manchester
District. He received signing authority at Altrincham branch in 1951 and was
appointed Clerk-in-Charge at Timperley in 1956. The years 1942-46 were spent
in H.M. Forces.
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Images © Barclays
Ref 0030-2931
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Under Barclays Timperley had a number of its “period
features” covered over, but now, several years after the closure of this
building as a bank, that unmistakable mock tudor will continue to fly the
flag for Martins Bank – or at least its obesession with “history”…
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Merger legacy…
“Martins Branch” and the Grasshopper icon feature on the
stationery of former Martins Branches from 1970 until the early 1980s. They are featured mainly on cheques and
Bank statements.
This Timperley cheque (whose original details have been
disguised) is from the early 1970s and this particular design and layout
will define Barclays Cheques until 1982 when the naming of some companies
is changed to include the letters “PLC”, which marks the end of the
“Martins Branch” stationery.
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Image © Martins
Bank Archive Collection
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