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 Wolverhampton is amongst the first of Martins Bank’s
Midland District Branches, opening in 1936 at Queen Square. Although there is no image of the Branch
in the Barclays collection, there is
a copy (above) of the Architect’s plans for the Branch, and we would also
like to thank friend of the Archive Keith Mason for his help with this and
other Midland District Branches. A
Branch image from Martins’ time is still being sought, and below, thanks
once again to Keith Mason, we have a glimpse of how the building looked in
March 2015 when the Britannia Bank met its demise., and the building was
once more “To Let”. If you can help with images and/or information about
this or any of Martins’ 980+ Branches, please do get in touch with us.
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In Service: 21 December 1936 until June 1969
This Image is taken From the
original plans, held by Martins Bank’s Premises Department
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It
will be another thirty-two years before a second Branch is opened in
Wolverhampton, this time at Waterloo Road. It is this second Branch, opened
in 1968, that flies the flag on its own for Martins, as Queen Square is not taken on by
Barclays. For Queen Square Branch,
we have two features from Martins Bank Magazine. In the first, we visit Queen Square in
the Autumn of 1965, where, apparently, there is something called
“enlightened” management (?) The
Winter 1965 issue carries a story by a member of the staff, Malcolm Sly,
who 1965 provides a rather unusual
Christmas Greeting in the form of a self depricating account of learning to
play the euphonium and balancing this with the reactions of his wife and
the neighbours…
“Precious little
glamour, but
plenty of
enlightened management…”
 We manoeuvred the car into
the tortuous traffic system and headed through Walsall’s factory-lined
streets towards the factory-lined streets of Wolverhampton where we found a
Branch built 30 years ago and still sporting the dark mahogany of pre-war
banking decor. This is a remarkable Branch in that it can, by most careful
plotting, just accommodate everyone on the ground floor leaving the
manager’s room for the manager, no room for the assistant manager and
hardly any room for anybody.
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The
scheme entails the cashiers remaining at the counter after they have balanced
and, since that is impossible, life becomes testing when holidays and
illness do not intervene. But nobody grumbled, because it was nobody’s
fault. Business grows, staffs increase, adjoining premises are not for
sale, new sites are not always where one wants them to be, and here in
Wolverhampton, as elsewhere, the staff jolly each other along.
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Left to right:
A. D. Home,
S.
V. H. Hanson,
D. W. McFarlane,
K. Legan (Pro Manager),
C. T. Kennedy (Assistant Manager)
A. C. Bater (Manager),
M. L. Sly,
G. Newell
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For sheer stickability we hand a bouquet
to the girls of the Branch who for the record were photographed in the
machine room. There is a complicated route to a staff room and voucher room
upstairs and an even more complicated route downstairs to the heating
system which in very cold weather heats more effectively with the door ajar
if we are to believe the notice pinned to it. But it is doubtful whether
anyone could organise the Branch any better than it is organised in present
circumstances. The previous managers and the Branches from which they
retired were Mr H. Douglas (Bristol), Mr J. E. Leake (Huddersfield) and Mr
S. C. Brayshaw (Wolverhampton).
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Left to right:
Miss S. Tennant,
Miss A. P. Soffe,
Mrs M. Beardmore,
Mrs A. Hodges,
Miss P. Nock,
Mrs V. Mehaffey,
Miss C. A. Clare,
Miss B. M. Cooper
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At present that ebullient character Mr A.
C. Bater achieves the impossible whenever he can and very often when it
seems that he can’t. A Canadian upbringing, schooling in England followed
by war service and a devotion to rugby and cricket are an unusual recipe
for success in management at Wolverhampton and ‘Spud’ Bater does not let
life get on top of him or those who work for him. There is precious little
glamour about these industrial Branches but there is enlightened management which is particularly communicable
to those with interest and enthusiasm. Fortunately it cannot be put in a
box and exported like so many products of the Midlands.
Euphonium lessons…
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 I have
always wished that I could play  an instrument and have been interested
for some time in brass bands, so when a letter appeared in our local paper
towards the end of last year asking for volunteers for the Aldridge Town
Band this seemed to offer a golden opportunity to realise one of my
ambitions: tuition would be free, also the loan of instruments, and anyone
interested was invited to the learners’ classes on Mondays and Thursdays. I
duly presented myself and was given a euphonium which is not the largest of
the instruments, but if promotion means moving to bigger things I shall
decline. After trying unsuccessfully for ten minutes to produce a single
note it was explained to me that puffing of cheeks was unnecessary and
‘tonguing’ was the only effort required.
That night I took the euphonium home and
my wife was highly amused. The
instrument costs between Ł45 and Ł100 depending on make and quality. It requires care and maintenance and is
best cleaned with a damp chamois leather and then polished with a soft
cloth. The inside too needs cleaning from time to time by warm soapy water
being poured through and then rinsed clear. The process involves turning it
over and over until empty and while a small instrument presents no
difficulty a euphonium is different. The first time I blew through it to
check I deluged the cat and thereafter I have cleaned the instrument over
the bath. After a few weeks concentrating on notes and scales I
graduated to short tunes free from sharps or flats and, in common time—four beats to the bar
with each note of the same length.
Further progress was marked by the group
of learners together playing hymns and waltz  melodies containing occasional sharps
and flats. Apart from the weekly tuition I managed up to half an hour’s
practice daily much to the amusement of the neighbours. Subsequently I have
noticed that our semi-detached neighbours. While continuing to speak to us,
do not mention the subject although our detached neighbours regularly
enquire about progress. My wife having overcome her initial hysterics has
helped enormously by assisting me to read music. Eventually about six
of us were invited to sit in with the band at the Monday night rehearsals.
This was quite an ordeal at first but the members were very understanding
and helped whenever possible, and at the beginning we were not faced with
anything too difficult. When wrong notes are played or the timing is
incorrect the culprit is usually asked by the conductor to perform ‘solo’
until perfection is attained. This can be worse than being at school and
the first time it happened to me, at full rehearsal, I prayed for the floor
to open. The band rehearses in the premises of the Aldridge ‘Over 60 Club’,
a building some distance from the road and from any houses and almost
equidistant from the health centre on one side and the mortuary on the
other, but I do not think this has any special significance. It was here in
May that we began serious work for Civic Sunday when the band would lead
the Chairman of the Council to church followed by a party of scouts,
guides, cadets and local services representatives.
 The
occasion entailed four weeks of solid concentration on three march tunes
and in the final week we practised marching and playing—an enlightening experience.
To play an instrument is one thing; to march along while playing is very
difficult. However, all went well and in July we were required to play at
the Horticultural Society’s annual show. For this we rehearsed an hour’s
programme of popular tunes, marches and waltzes and, after repeating the
programme later in the afternoon, we were given tea in the officials’ tent.
The band’s engagements were somewhat limited in the summer because of the
number of newcomers but other engagements have now been undertaken. Those
at long distance are accomplished by coach: locally we are fortunate in the
amount of private transport available, for not all the band’s instruments
are suited to mini-motoring. We have 4 horns, 7 cornets, 3 trombones, 2
euphoniums, 2 baritones and 4 basses: those who play them include a tax
inspector, railway supervisor, teacher, painter, computer technician,
ambulance driver, TV engineer, policeman, plumber, builder, machinist, a
minister and several grammar school boys. Our ambulance driver is the
band’s humourist and our cornet-playing TV engineer is the outstanding
enthusiast who. While stands, chairs and music are being collected after
practice, continues playing alone until the very last minute. Our uniform,
provided free and ‘fitted’ if required, comprises black trousers and jacket
with light blue lapels, gold braided cuffs and the Aldridge emblem sewn on
the top pocket: the cap is the usual type worn by bandsmen. One gains
confidence as one goes along but on my first public appearance with the
band I had mixed feelings—nervousness until we started to play, followed by
exhilaration and a sense of achievement. I still attend the
learners’ classes and hope with continued practice to become proficient in
eighteen months. I like to think that by that time I will still be on
speaking terms with the neighbours.
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