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The rest of the business is small retail
shop-keeping. We first opened our branch here in 1949 and Mr. R. Scott
became its Manager in 1960 after six years at Victoria Street, Liverpool,
the last two as a signing officer. He entered the Bank in 1933 at St. Luke's,
Southport, and the other branches at which he has served are Southport,
Linacre, Litherland and Eastbank Street.
His first spell at St. Helens was from 1949 to 1954 and after years
in Southport, residence in St. Helens is a great contrast for both Mr. and
Mrs. Scott. One of the things which surprised Mrs. Scott is the large
amount of heavy traffic, the heaviest industrial vehicles being a rarity in
places like Southport. But both Mr. and Mrs. Scott are well steeped in the
banking tradition. Mr. Scott's uncle was the late Mr. Win. Thomson, a
former Manager of Liverpool City Office, and Mrs. Scott worked in Head
Office Trustee Department before her marriage, so they are both alive to
the need for adaptability and for doing their best for the Bank wherever
their destiny takes them.
Second-in-Command is J. H. Anthem who
entered the Bank in 1949  and has previously served at Myrtle Street,
on the Relief Staff and at Egremont. Next comes P. E. Boulton who started
his career in 1953 and whose previous experience includes the Relief Staff,
Chief Cashier's Department and Liverpool City Office with two years in the
Royal Army Pay Corps thrown in for good measure. P. F. Riley joined the
staff in 1959 at Church Street, Liverpool, going to St. Helens later the
same year.
There are two ladies, Miss R. B.
Edwards and Miss M. B. Hill. Miss Edwards started at Old Swan in 1956 and
went on to St. Helens the following year. She acts as No. 2 Cashier. Miss
Hill started at St. Helens in 1957, and after a spell of work on Relief
Staff she went to Old Swan in 1959 and back to St. Helens in 1960. She
takes charge of No. 3 till. Our visit was made just as the branch was in
the throes of partial mechanisation and so, included in our photograph and
temporarily attached to the branch, are Miss James from the Mechanisation
Department, whose job it is to bring the mechanised branches up in the way
they should go, and H. G. Pilley, from the District Office Relief Staff.
The excuse made for our visit was the recent move of the branch from
temporary premises to its new rebuilt office.
The building as it appears under its
new floodlighting is shown above.
Inside, the premises are wide and shallow. There is very little
office space behind the counter and the machine section and much of the
other office accommodation is to the left of the counter. This makes it
rather an unusual branch but the arrangements are comfortable, adequate and
pleasing in design and finish. In
fairness to St. Helens, Mr. and Mrs. Scott took us to see the best
residential quarter and also the view across the countryside from as little
as a couple of miles from the centre of the town. Even in the most unprepossessing place
there are beauty spots and the golf course is cunningly screened from the
belching chimneys by a stretch of woodland while the nicer houses are
situated on very pleasant tree-lined avenues. The progress of the branch is
very encouraging and no one appeared to be in the slightest degree
depressed by their surroundings.
Award-winner
  The attainment of the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award is a
formidable task and our congratulations go to Barbara
Jackson of St Helens Branch who recently
qualified. The Award Scheme consists of four sections: Service, Adventure,
Interests and Design for Living, the tests being graded from
the Bronze, to the Silver and finally Gold Awards. To qualify for the
award Barbara's tests included a residential course in Scotland, a 15-mile
sponsored walk, another walk from St Helens to Southport, caring for
mentally handicapped children, helping in an old peoples' hostel, looking
after deprived children, a general handyman's course, passing several Red
Cross examinations, taking a nursing course, qualifying to be a help to a
midwife, passing her driving test, taking a course in car mechanics and a
dressmaking course! She will be going
to Buckingham Palace in July to receive her award from Prince Philip. To add to her outstanding achievements, Barbara, who is 18, has
recently been commissioned as a lieutenant in the Girls Brigade.
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