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In a write-up that is shorter than many of the other
branch visits made by the Magazine’s staff, we are informed about the
background of the staff of the branch, and given a brief insight into the
Worcester of 1952…
 We
paid our first visit to Worcester on the afternoon of the fifth of September What a busy town Worcester is and what crowds
seem to throng its narrow congested streets! It seemed to us to be an
exceptionally noisy town, too, and throughout the night the roar of heavy
lorry traffic along the main streets drives sleep from the heads of
visitors unlucky enough to have the front bedrooms of their hotels. Yet five minutes' walk away one can
stroll almost in solitude along the banks of the Severn and under the walls
of the gracious cathedral which is the chief glory of Worcester. On the far bank is the Worcester Cricket
Ground, the fine turf of which is attributed to the annual floodings to
which it is subjected by the river. The extent of these floods is marked by
inscriptions cut into the stone of the entrance gateway to the cathedral
grounds from the river front and they are all many feet above the normal
level.
  Here
too are the famous Worcester Porcelain Works which visitors are permitted
to view. This extremely busy town is,
of course, in the heart of one of the most naturally beautiful parts of the
English countryside and in the spring the plum blossom rivals the orchards
of Kent. We learned for the first time that the hop industry is of some
magnitude in Worcestershire: most of us associate it solely with Kent. And, of course, the setting is very pleasant, and for
those who like living in the country the choice might well lie here. Mr.
Caughey and his wife we have known for a long time. Mrs. Caughey was in the
Bank at one time and as Norah Boston, served at various branches in the
Liverpool district. Mr. Caughey entered the service in 1922 and served at
Waterloo, Water Street, Mossley Hill, Smithdown and Tue Brook before being
charged with the opening of our branch at Childwall Five Ways. During the
last war he organised all the staff savings throughout the Bank and was
seconded to the National Savings Movement for six weeks of every year
during the war. In Liverpool he was in charge of seventy selling centres
during every one of the big campaigns. He was appointed Manager at
Worcester in 1946. Mr. H. E. Williams, Pro
Manager, was on holiday at the time of our visit and we were sorry not to
meet once again this old friend. Mr. J. R.
D. Chapman, the principal cashier, is a North-Easterner who came South in
1942.
A change of use…
A keen eye on Worcester High Street branch reveals that
the name above the balcony once read “David Greig 1931”. As we don’t have the exact dates for
these two images, it’s not clear when Martins Bank decided to stamp its own
identity over the top!
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