|
 WELCOME to Martins Bank
Archive, and to MARTINS BANK MAGAZINE
- our news feature in honour of the Bank’s staff publication, which from 1946
to 1969 brought news of changing times, new Branches and services and even
new technologies to Staff in England Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle
of Man. From Drive-In Branches to
computerisation and the birth of the Cash Dispenser, it seems Martins Bank
has it all.
|
SPRING/SUMMER
2021 NEWSLETTER
|
AUTUMN/WINTER
2020 NEWSLETTER
|
SPRING/SUMMER
2020 NEWSLETTER
|
AUTUMN/WINTER
2019 NEWSLETTER
|
|
 On 1 November 1968 Martins
Bank Limited becomes one of the Barclays Group of Companies – a status
maintained until close of Business on Friday 12 December 1969. The following Monday, 730 branches of the
bank will open their doors under the name of Barclays. As we find ourselves in times tinged with
the sadness of the closure of hundreds of Bank Branches, including those that
are former Martins Bank Branches, we
really do appreciate the continued
support of our ever increasing band of loyal visitors and contributors. There are now fewer than 60 Branches of
Martins Bank still open, and to mark their passing, our Branch Watch feature
now includes a separate page featuring details of THE LAST 56 BRANCHES . Our most recent news
stories are shown below, and you can catch up with some previous stories in-depth,
by downloading our half-yearly Newsletters (see above). Don’t forget to visit our sister site -
Lewis’s Bank Archive - which tells the story of Britain’s department store
bank for the nine years that it was a subsidiary of Martins Bank. Click HERE to
visit the Lewis’s Bank Archive web site (opens in a new window).
From the splendour of old Southport…
|
Our quest for photographs of branches is ongoing, and it is always
with surprise and delight that newly discovered images are added to our
Digital Archive and to the Web Site. May 2021 has so far yielded FOUR such
items, each of which represents another piece of the jigsaw. It does feel a little like treasure has
been found, that we are able bring you a second rare view of Martins’
branch at 415 Lord
Street Southport, which closed in 1934. We already had a photograph of three
un-named ladies out shopping in Lord Street, and standing outside the
Branch, but now a second - taken at almost exactly the same spot - has
emerged, this time featuring two different ladies.
|
|
|
|
Images © 1933 Martins Bank Archive Collections / Adrian
Rawson
|
|
It did seem curious that there should be two such similar views of
completely unrelated subjects, but it turns out that this is no coincidence
- Adrian Rawson, whose mother and grandmother are the subjects of the
second photo - contacted us having found our web page for 415 Lord
Street. Adrian points out that it
was likely that these photographs were the work of a street photographer
who was selling pictures to tourists and using the doorway of the Bank as a
backdrop. Perhaps they felt that
those walking near a bank would have the means to pay for pictures! Adrian has carefully restored and
colour-tinted the original monochrome image of his relatives, as it is a
precious memory of his family and he has kindly donated a copy to the
Archive.
|
…to Newcastle’s Gallowgate,
Darlington’s High Row and Bexleyheath…
|
The other three ‘image finds’ all come to us courtesy of the
Grasshopper Pensioners’ Club Secretary Dave Baldwin, who has been scouring
the internet once more for evidence of rare or unusual photographs of
Martins Branches. Until now there
was just one photograph available of the Martins’ Branch at Newcastle
upon Tyne Gallowgate, and it only showed
a side wall with Bank signage, no doors or windows. Thanks to our friends
at Newcastle Libraries, we now have a digital copy of a photo from the
1920s - the days of the Bank of Liverpool and Martins Limited. Darlington 21 High Row Branch is seen below in colour in August 1970, thanks to David Christie
whose flickr® pages are filled with fabulous photographs showing many
aspects of British social history.
Although the merger of Martins and Barclays took place eight months
before this image was taken, Darlington branch did not have its
signage changed to Barclays, as it was due to be closed in 1971. The photograph of Bexleyheath Market Place
Branch is another lovely and rare shot, as this area
was later modernised, and the branch ended up in an altogether more
concrete and glass affair than this lovely old brick and stone frontage!
Our thanks for this photograph, go to Bexley Local Studies & Archive
Centre. If you have come across or
own an image of Martins Bank that you can’t spot already on our site,
please do get in touch at the usual address – gutinfo@btinternet.com , or find Martins Bank Archive on Facebook® and leave us a message.
|
|
The Bank of Liverpool and Martins
Newcastle Gallowgate, ca.1920s
|
Martins Bank Darlington High Row
7 August 1970
|
Martins Bank Bexleyheath
Market Place ca.1951
|
|
Image © Newcastle Libraries
|
Image © David Christie
|
Image © Bexley Local Studies & Archive Centre
|
More song and dance…
 Our Archive has for some time
been on the lookout for the original printed programmes which accompanied the
annual performances of Martins Bank Operatic Society. Thanks to Geoffrey
Kelly, who produced many of the Society’s acclaimed shows in the 1960s, and
to Beryl Creer, who as Beryl Evans performed in the Society’s post-war
productions, we do have a good range of programmes, and wherever possible
these are featured - with the original critiques of the shows originally
published in Martins Bank Magazine - which now form the basis of our SONG AND DANCE feature. Recently we were
contacted by Mike Ellis who collected most of the programmes from the
Society’s early 1970s productions, which continued under Barclays, but with a
slight change of name to Martins Operatic Society (the word “Bank”
removed”). One programme in particular
had evaded us until Mike’s donation arrived: the 1968 production of
“Maritza”. A landmark offering in many
ways, Maritza breaks away from the tried and trusted Gilbert and Sullivan
fare, by bringing a little-known musical by Emmerich Kalman to the Crane
Theatre in Liverpool. Featuring cross-dressing, an imaginary lover, and what
is described as “an authentic Hungarian atmosphere” Maritza is well received
and casts its spell on audiences over six nights in March 1968. You can read more by visiting our feature
page for MARITZA. In addition
to the original programmes, we are also keen to find original tickets for
productions staged by the Bank’s various amateur dramatic and operatic
groups. If you can help, then please do get in touch at the usual address – gutinfo@btinternet.com , or find Martins Bank Archive on Facebook® and leave us a message.
Martins
Branch Closures 2021…
|
The next round of BRANCH
CLOSURES to
affect former branches of Martins Bank, has been announced by Barclays. So
far, we know of EIGHT original Martins Bank
branches, some of them key to the history of the Bank - LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY which closed on 29 Jan 2021 and LANCASTER
UNIVERSITY
also closed 29 Jan 2021, were the first and the last of Martins’ University
outlets to be opened. Student Banking was a big market for the banks from
the late 1960s until the mid 1990s, when technolgy began to sound the
death-knell of branch banking. Our SPRING/SUMMER 2021 Newsletter is out now, and
it concentrates in particular on the birth of University Banking, which was
the brainchild of William T Green who worked for the Bank in
Liverpool. You can also read more in
our STUDENT BANKING feature. Liverpool
University began the experiment of Student Banking in this country in 1958,
and by 1988 there were one or more bank branches on just about every
university campus in the country.
Also closing early in 2021, were MORETON (CHESHIRE) 13 Jan 2021, WEST KIRBY 15 Jan 2021. In
February it was the turn of KEYNSHAM, one of the longest surviving branches of the Bank in the South
West, which departed on 24 Feb 2021. The fifth branch announced so far is FORMBY which closed on 30 April. ASHINGTON will close its doors for the last time on 16 Jul 2021, and after
more than a century of service, SALE (Cheshire)
closes on 6 August 2021.
|
Spring/Summer 2021 Newsletter
|
Buyer Beware…
We
have left the following article here once again for reference, to help
explain the position regarding the theft of copyrighted images for the
purposes of re-sale. There is a common misconception that if you
can Google an image, then it is “in the public domain” and you can do what
you want with it. Even some staff at eBay® believed this until they were
recently put right – if you take or
copy someone else’s work or property without their permission or
acknowledgement, and sell it on to
make even a penny out of it, this is breach of copyright, and the real
owner can take legal recourse to stop further theft and misuse of their
property. There are currently on eBay® a number of listings
of photographs for sale, showing scenes from the past and old buildings
including these four (and many more) Branches of Martins Bank. These images originated on our web site. As you can see, under our agreement with
the owner, we prominently display copyright. These images have been copied
and printed onto cheap photographic paper. The seller even has the gall to
add their own watermark to the displayed images to prevent others from
stealing them!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
STAINLAND
Image © Barclays
|
SITTINGBOURNE
Image created by Martins Bank
Archive and © Barclays
|
BURTON UPON TRENT
Image © Barclays
|
WALLASEY
Image © Barclays
|
As well as being against copyright law, these
items are worthless, having little more than sentimental value – you will
often find that collections and archives will make images available free of
charge for private use, but you MUST check with them first. You should always
check the seller’s right to copy the image – reputable sites such as eBay® do
now allow you to report copyright infringement. For ANY item of memorabilia,
the best thing to do is shop around and compare prices – in the case of
Martins Bank there are often up to twenty different items for sale on eBay®
alone on any given day. For printed material which looks as if it has been
copied, or actually claims to be a copy, ALWAYS question the seller about
copyright.
Best Regards, Jonathan.
Westmorland, Saturday 05 Jun 2021
WHILST MARTINS BANK
ARCHIVE HAS NO CONNECTION WITH THE DAY-TO-DAY TRADING ACTIVITIES OF THE
BARCLAYS GROUP OF
COMPANIES, WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE CONTINUED GENEROUS GUIDANCE, ADVICE
AND SUPPORT OF BARCLAYS
GROUP ARCHIVES IN THE BUILDING AND SHAPING OF THIS ONLINE SOCIAL HISTORY.
|
