11-82-80 Newcastle University

On the back of the expansion of Britain’s University system in the 1960s, Martins Bank opens eight campus branches in the eleven years up to the merger, but one of the inevitable results of the merger with Barclays, is also one of the saddest – a swathe of newly opened and well-designed branches closed within a year or two of being opened, because they are surplus to requirements. This tale has been told Countless times here in our online archive, and on just a few occasions, a Barclays branch was closed in favour of a Martins office.

In Service: 1966 until 2 April 1971

Image © Barclays Ref 0030-2013

This happened where a Martins Branch offered better premises. Sadly, this is not the case for Newcastle University Branch which closes only a year or so after the merger. Under Martins, Newcastle University is a self accounting sub branch, open full banking hours over six days, and with an appointed Clerk in Charge to make the decisions. Who knows, it might easily have gone on to be one of Martins’ flagship University branches….