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Martins Bank 1928+

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Opening a  new stand alone Branch at Truro is a bold move, taken at what is an exciting time for Martins Bank’s Branches in the West and South West of England, and South Wales.

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Truro gives the Bank a foothold in Cornwall around one year before the new South Western District of the Bank is established. It is also the furthest mainland Branch away from Martins Bank’s Liverpool Head Office. 

In Service: February 1959 until November/December 1975

 

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Branch images © Barclays Ref 0030-2983

The new South Western District will bring with it not only local decision making and therefore a better service to local customers, there will also be the prospect of more local jobs and promotion possibilities within what no-one yet knows will be last new District of the Bank. One of the first tenants in Martins’ new four storey building at 4 Boscawen Street is competitor Bank UDT! You can see the other banks which were in local competition with Martins in Truro, towards the bottom of this page.  For the Bank’s South Western District business will grow rapidly, and many new branches will be opened before the merger with Barclays puts an end to it all, so let’s stay in 1959 for a while, and join in with the spirit of this long and optimistic report from Martins Bank Magazine, which heralds: -

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Our First Branch in Cornwall

 

1958 Truro Exterior 2 BGA Ref 30-29831959 01 MBM.jpgThe visitor to Cornwall is quickly con­scious after leaving Plymouth of entering another world. There is a peacefulness about this countryside which has a different quality from the peaceful-ness which is always associated with the country.  The tempo of life is slower, the people seem more contented, the rash of ribbon building has not defiled the roads, things seem largely as they were. There is little to offend the eye, life seems more gracious and the charm is enhanced by the knowledge that the sea is nowhere very far away, and Nature has provided with almost prodigal liberality numerous sandy beaches and picturesque coves. Time no longer seems so important; in fact, in some ways time has stood still, yet here more than anywhere else in England one is very conscious of the rolling on of Time. The men who are asked to leave their native heaths in order to establish branches of the Bank in places where the name of the Bank has hitherto been almost unknown are to be envied rather than pitied. 

It is an enrichment of life and experience to move from the familiar to the unfamiliar and when the call comes to go to an outpost like Truro the recipient is doubly fortunate. Anyway, remote though it is, the branch has already been visited by the Chief General Manager, the Chairman of the South Western Board and the South Western District General Manager, so the feeling of isolation is not as acute as in some more accessible places. The branch was opened early in 1959 and quickly attracted attention to itself. The architect, Mr. John Crowther, whom we had the great pleasure of meeting, scored a notable success with his design for the new building in that it was awarded a Class I award by the Civic Trust for a new building in the County of Cornwall and was prominently featured in the Architect and Building News. It is quite an additional feather in his cap that he has been given the job of de­signing the interior of Kendal branch which is being reconstructed. Incidentally, although the various banks are all well placed and are within sight of each other, there can be little doubt about ours having the best place, right beside the City Hall. The modern facade, of glass and Cornish stone, blends quite remarkably with the older buildings in the street.

1958 Truro Internal 2 BGA Ref 30-2983So far as the interior is concerned, readers are getting used to the lyrical praise we bestow on our new branches and we are always conscious of the grim smiles which our remarks evoke on the counten­ances of our colleagues in the Manchester and North Eastern Districts especially, where the modernisation programme can only operate a bit at a time. Nevertheless, this branch is as good as anything we have done—tasteful, welcoming, dignified and altogether a place of which both we and our customers are proud. The heating is under-floor and the lighting is recessed in the ceiling, while an unusual feature is the waiting room of elliptical design. The richness of the dark veneer of Palisander and Zebrano used on the walls is most satisfying, especially in the Manager's room where the illumination which filters in through the excellent lay light sets the graining off to advantage. A stroke of genius here which causes a picture of the room to stay fixed in the memory, is a curtain, a veritable Jacob's coat of many colours, which screens the glass panelling to one side of the Manager's desk.

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1960 Truro Manager's Room MBMAu-60P12.jpgWe are having a colour photograph taken of this room for use in a subsequent issue. The final imaginative touch in this room is the use of Danish furniture of the most modern design. On the customer's side of the counter a further clever touch which offsets the beauty of the panelling is a wall of Cornish Pelastine granite. But however beautiful a new branch may be it is no use unless it makes its contribution to the Bank's progress and in this respect it was interesting to inspect a map of the county on which is marked the spread of the business. Suffice it to say that it was most impressive and encouraging. The branch was opened by Mr. Malcolm Parkinson, this being his first appointment. He entered the Bank in 1939 and all his previous service has been performed in the Liverpool District, at St. Luke's, Birkdale, Liverpool City Office, Ormskirk, on H.O. Relief and finally in Liverpool District Office.

 

1958 Truro Internal 1 BGA Ref 30-2983During the War he served in the R.A.F., training in the United States after an initial visit to Canada. Then came a crash and after he had recovered from his injuries he was grounded and from then on served as a radar officer in France, Belgium and Germany after the Invasion. He and Mrs. Parkinson have entered into the life of the district with keenness and enthusiasm and Mrs. Parkinson's interest in playing her part in helping to make a success of the new branch is most heartening to see. Mr. Ian Douglas, second in command, is very well known up and down the service because of his tours of duty with one of the Mobile Branches. He appears to have enjoyed this experience so much that he has made his home in a caravan, and thinks that this bachelor's solution to the problem of 'digs' is a very happy and satisfactory one. Ian, too, has closely identified himself with the life and amenities of the district, having joined a sailing club and built himself a very fine boat.

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1960 Truro Staff MBM-Su60P34.jpgHe entered the Bank in the Craven District in 1941 and has served at Keighley, Crosshills, Ilkley and at Liverpool City Office. He served during the War from 1943 to 1947 and again in 1956 as a Forces Reservist during the Suez Crisis. Mr. J. House is the junior clerk and the ladies are represented by Miss D. Allen. Both are local products, Mr. House from Truro itself and Miss Allen from St. Austell. Both have been with the branch from the opening day.

 

After completing our visit to the branch we were privileged to be invited to lunch at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Parkinson, about two miles outside the city. They had to wait some months to find what they wanted but it was certainly worth it. They have the best of both worlds here, a most attractive house and garden, quite secluded, with a view of fields and trees. Exactly one minute away is the main road and a bus stop and you come from one to the other so suddenly as to make you wonder whether you have been dreaming. 

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1958 Truro Exterior 1 BGA Ref 30-2983After lunch at which we were entertained by an attractive and personable young lady of eight, we went for a drive round Mr. Parkinson's 'territory', to St. Agnes and Falmouth and to some of the glorious little coves in which the coast abounds. The highlight of the afternoon, however, was a visit to a customer, Mr. J. A. Harman, who has created a holiday village out of a wooded hillside in a little less than ten years. Using the materials on the site, he has built, with the labour of his own hands, assisted by his brother and two other helpers, a number of stone chalets. Now he is building wooden ones. Each is equipped with an all-electric kitchen, electric light, hot and cold water, modern flush sanitation, bunks with Dunlopillo or interior spring mattresses, and all are fully furnished. The chalets are six, four, three and two-berth. A lovely secluded bathing beach is five minutes away and the place is an ideal touring centre for those who want to vary seclusion with sightseeing. It is called Little Orchard Village and it is close to St. Agnes. The grounds are beautifully laid out and work is going on with the concreting of paths and the building of new chalets until about 45 have been completed. In a different kind of way it reminded us of Port Meirion, but as a monument to what the industry, enterprise and vision of a handful of men can achieve out of almost nothing in a few years it provided a most encouraging and satisfying answer to anyone who thinks that the qualities which made our country what it is are no longer present. With dinner at the Red Lion in the evening a very full, instructive, inspiring and happy day ended our visit to Truro.

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A New Build…

The Architect and Building News publishes a four page spread featuring Martins Bank’s new Branch at Truro, in March 1959.  Everything from the ingenious circular customer interview area to the staff room and toilets are either discussed or pictured, and the article has a large number of planning drawings showing how the various parts of the building go together, and detailing the many and varied materials used in the construction and fitting out of Truro Branch. The main text of the article is shown below, along with the images that are not already shown elsewhere on this page…

 

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THE building is situated in Boscawen Street, the main street of Truro, and is adjacent to the City Hall. The most important lines in the facade of the City Hall have been carried through to the elevation of the bank, to give continuity.

Planning

Above the bank there are three floors of offices and a separate entrance, adjacent to the City Hall, has been provided for this accommo­dation. At first-floor level to the rear of the site a separate staff room is planned for the bank employees.

Finishes

Facing materials on the projecting cornice and casings to the two side stanchions are Cornish Pelastine Grey granite, dolly pointed. The in­filling panels between the windows are faced with Delabole slate slabs with a machine sawn and hand chiselled finish. Around the edge of each slab is a drafted margin. Office windows overlooking the main street are of anodized alu­minium, the opening portions being of double hung sash variety. Frames on the ground floor are of stainless steel with a satin finish. At the rear, the building is finished with a Tyrolean rendering. All windows are anodised aluminium, with double hung sashes and top hung ventilators. Internally the leading wall from the street is also faced with Cornish Pelastine granite, dolly pointed. It is hoped, eventually, to place a piece of sculpture here. Walls are veneered in Palisander and Zebrano woods. The elliptical waiting room is veneered on the outside in Palisander and faced internally with P.V.C. forming a focal point at the far end of the banking hall. Counter units are veneered in rosewood and mahogany. The manager's office is also panelled with Palisander and is furnished with hand-made Danish teak and leather furniture which has also been used in other parts of the bank.

 

An unusual view of the front of the building, taken to show how the edges

have been blended with those of the much older and more traditional

building next door, Truro’s City Hall.

The Eliptical waiting room at the far end of the Banking Hall

 

The Staff Room

Diagram showing the screen in the Manager’s room at one tenth scale.

Article and Images © Architect and Building News and Successors, 1959 to date

 

 

Article and Images © Architect and Building News and Successors, 1959 to date

… and an AWARD-WINNING new build, at that!

BOUQUET FOR OUR PREMISES DEPARTMENT, HEAD OFFICE

OUR new branch at Truro has been the subject of a Class 1 award made by the Civic Trust for a new building in the county of Cornwall.  The citation is as follows:—“This small bank in Boscawen Street, Truro, is a good example of how a clearly detailed and thoroughly modern building can add to the quality of an old street. The dignified and simple lettering and neat detailing of the bank entrance sets a fine example in the design of shopfronts.  The relationship of the eaves to the adjoining building fills in what was an awkward and jagged skyline with skill and restraint”.  The architects were Messrs. Taylor and Crowther of Truro and in the “West Briton” of November 30th, Mr. Crowther received high praise for his development of this site and for the way in which he so competently carried out the solving of the problem of putting a modern building alongside two old ones of solid construction.

 

BARCLAYS BANK LIMITED

14 King Street

3 Pydar Street Trustee Department

Cattle Market

20 Lemon Street

LLOYDS BANK LIMITED

7 Boscawen Street

Exec & Trustee Department

Cattle Market

Royal Cornwall Infirmary

MARTINS BANK LIMITED

4 Boscawen Street

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MIDLAND BANK LIMITED

17 Boscawen Street

Cattle Market

NATIONAL PROVINCIAL BANK

24 Boscawen Street

Trustee – 15 Cathedral Lane

UNITED DOMINIONS TRUST

1st Floor 4 Boscawen Street

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WESTMINSTER BANK LIMITED

3 St Nicholas Street

 

 

 

 

1958 to 1964 Mr M M Parkinson Manager MBM-Su64P06.jpg

1958 to 1961 Mr I A Douglas  MBM-Wi63P07.jpg

1960 Miss D Allen MBM-Su60P34.jpg

1960 Mr J House MBM-Su60P34.jpg

1964 Mr BH Crossey Manager MBM-Su64P03.jpg

BW Logo

 

 

 

 

 

Mr M M Parkinson

First Manager Here

1958 to 1964

Mr I A Douglas

Branch Second

1958 to 1961

Miss D Allen

Joined the Bank Here

1958

Mr J House

Joined the Bank Here

1958

Mr B H Crossey

Manager

1964 onwards

 

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Title:

Type:

Address:

Index Number and District:

Hours:

 

Telephone:

Services:

Manager:

Martins Bank Limited 11-67-80 Truro

Full Branch

4 Boscawen Street Truro Cornwall

177 South Western

Mon to Fri 1000-1500

Saturday 0900-1130

Truro 2824

Night safe Installed

Mr B H Crossey Manager

Troutbeck Auction Mart

(Windermere)

February 1959

15 December 1969

November/December 1975

Opened by Martins Bank Limited

Barclays Bank Limited 20-87-93 Truro, Boscawen Street

Closed and business transferred to Barclays 14 King St

Tunbridge Wells

(15 Mount Pleasant Road)

 

M