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 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 branches and departments 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.
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SPRING/SUMMER
2021 NEWSLETTER
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AUTUMN/WINTER
2020 NEWSLETTER
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SPRING/SUMMER
2020 NEWSLETTER
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AUTUMN/WINTER
2019 NEWSLETTER
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 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 FINAL 45 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).
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What GOES
around, COMES
around: Again, and again, and again…
 For those of us who have
been on this planet for more than fifty years, nothing seems entirely new,
and ideas once considered outdated are given what is popularly called “a
makeover” and are re-packaged, re-branded, and re-launched on an
unsuspecting audience. Look no
further than the telephone land line – we might no longer need a hard wired
telephone in a draughty hallway, but the technology of the original telephone
network was beautifully reimagined as the first mass distribution method by
which we could all access the internet.
With banking too, as ways of using our banks have been actively
redesigned to remove altogether the need for bank branches, the idea of
reaching the customer face to face, in even the remotest of locations is
now no longer restricted to the internet.
Over recent years, the phenomenon of the “bank on wheels” has come
back from the past to the point where these mini-branches can be seen
attending high streets and market squares across the land long after the
original bank branches in such locations were themselves closed down for
good. Sadly however, the modern
version no longer includes being able to make cash transactions! You should not be fooled into thinking
that the bank on wheels is something new – far from it. Martins Bank got things going during
“Silver Linings Saving Week” in 1948, and soon a fleet of six mobile branch
caravans toured England Wales and Scotland, attending fairs and shows, and
bringing the bank to the customer.
The advertsiement here gives details of the Bank’s attendance at the
3rd International Air show at Biggin Hill in May 1965, and by
visiting our feature pages for MOBILE BRANCHES and TRADE STANDS, you can see the many more
of the imaginative ways in which Martins Bank’s caravans and stands went to
extremes to connect with the public…
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A new dawn at 4 Water
Street…
 The news that 4 Water
Street, Head Office of the modern day Martins Bank Limited had been
acquired by Kinrise has come as a great relief to all who want to see this
fabulous Grade II Listed Building loved and in use once more. The ethos of
Kinrise is literally to enable communities ro rise again, and through a
clever re-imagining and sympathetic process, the company breathes new life
into buildings that might otherwise remain abandoned or forgotten. In order to achieve their vision for the
Martins Bank Building, Kinrise are working steadily towards the creation of
of what they refer to as “A hybrid mix of work,
social and restaurant space”. This
has to be a perfect fit for a building which from its completion in 1932
let out its office space across eight floors to businesses large and
small.
Equally
important is the continued provision of a public space, and key to this, as
ever will be the magnificent banking hall with its horseshoe counter,
breathtaking mezzanine galleries and futuristic system of natural lighting. The Grasshopper Pensioners’ Club and
Martins Bank Archive are both proud to have been consulted about the
restoration of 4 Water Street, and both look forward to being able to help
Kinrise achieve its worthy goal, restoring not only one of the most
historic buildings in Liverpool, but also the affection and pride held for
it by the people of the City. Click
the image here to take one last tour of the building before the magic
begins, and watch this space over the coming months, as we will make sure
you don’t miss a moment of this exciting project!
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The number dwindles…
The second list of Barclays
branch closures for 2022 has just been announced, and amongst those offices
destined to disappear from our high streets are four more Martins Bank
Branches. MANCHESTER ST ANN’S SQUARE closes on 23/06/2022 and is followed by RAWTENSTALL on 29/06/2022.
Two branches will close on 01/07/2022 - GATESHEAD 215 HIGH STREET and HESWALL.
As ever we would like to thank
everyone – past and present – who has served customers at these branches. A little nearer to the time that each
office closes, we will post as usual on the Martins Bank Facebook page,
images of each branch so allow people to leave their memories of either
working or being a customer there. Please note that although the original St
Ann’s Square branch of Martins in Manchester was officially closed in 2009,
Barclays continued to trade there covering a slightly different footprint,
and the original addres of 17 St Ann’s Square became 17 to 23 St Ann’s
Square. For that reason we are still claiming the branch as “one of ours”
until it closes for good(!)
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More “new” branches?
Gateshead 215 High Street
Image © Barclays Ref 0030-1048
Whilst in the twenty-first
Century 215 High Street Gateshead is being closed for good on 1 July
(see article above), we can journey back to the happier days of 1962, when
on 9 May it is opened by Martins Bank! We do like time travel, and this handsome
branch is opened as something of a compromise to solve the expense to the
Bank, and the inconvenience of its customers – who had to trapise up and
down Gateshead High Street to be served at either No 86 or No 338 – two
original branches of the North Eastern Bank. Each of them were showing
their age and each was situated away from the central area of the High
Street, where the footfall for the other banks, shops and services was
strong. Good for business then, and good for customers. Not a bad reason to
invest in a new branch. You can read
much more about this branch, including an extensive opening day review by
local newspaper “The Journal” by visiting our page for GATESHEAD 215
HIGH STREET…
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Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
Advertisement restored Feb 2015
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Keeping a permanent
record…
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Image © Barclays Ref 0030-1693
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An unexpected result of the closure of former Martins Bank Branches
in recent years, has been the sight of the Bank’s original signage still
etched – sometimes faintly, others clear as day – in the stonework above
the door or window of a branch.
Friend of Martins Bank Archive, Robert Montgomery, has since 2009
been on a mission to photograph former branches of the big banks, that have
fallen on their sword in the name of progress. In the process he has accumulated many
images of former Martins Branches.
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Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections –
ROBERT MONTGOMERY
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We look forward to being able to add these to our Branch Network
pages over the coming months, but as a taster, we are showing here a
side-by-side comparison of LIVERPOOL WOOLTON Branch. On
the left you see the branch in the 1960s, and on the right, looking almost
as if time has stood still for sixty years, you can see how the branch
looked a couple of days after it was closed in June of this year.
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Liverpool Childwall Five Ways – Closed
02/10/2015
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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GARY OWENS
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Liverpool Booker Avenue – Closed 19/02/2016
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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GARY OWENS
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South Shields Harton – Closed 10/05/2019
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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ROBIN LAWSON
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From the splendour of
old Southport…
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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.
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Images © 1933 Martins Bank Archive Collections / Adrian
Rawson
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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.
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…to Newcastle’s
Gallowgate, Darlington’s High Row and Bexleyheath…
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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 – martinsbankarchive@btinternet.com, or find Martins Bank Archive on Facebook® and leave us a message.
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The Bank of Liverpool and Martins
Newcastle Gallowgate, ca.1920s
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Martins Bank Darlington High Row
7 August 1970
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Martins Bank Bexleyheath
Market Place ca.1951
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Image © Newcastle Libraries
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Image © David Christie
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Image © Bexley Local Studies & Archive Centre
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Buyer Beware…
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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!!!
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STAINLAND
Image © Barclays
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SITTINGBOURNE
Image created by Martins Bank
Archive and © Barclays
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BURTON UPON TRENT
Image © Barclays
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WALLASEY
Image © Barclays
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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 30TH April 2022
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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.
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