11-53-00 Bellingham

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This is Bellingham, one of the original branches of the Alnwick and County Bank which is subsumed by the North Eastern Banking Company in 1875. Opened in 1872, Bellingham has been joined by a sub-Branch at Otterburn and another at Wark, by the time of the 1969 merger with Barclays. Bellingham itself is still open today.

Our friends in the North East tell us that the foolproof way to sound like a native of this area, is to pronounce it as “Bell-in-Jam” and who are we to disagree? A great many of our Branch Network Pages cover the retirement celebrations of various Martins Bank Managers, and on the whole, the majority are celebrations of one kind or another – the ubiquitous “Cocktail Party”.

In Service: 1872 until Friday 18 December 2015

Image © Barclays Ref 0030-0154

This invariably follows the pattern of the presentation of a “subscribed gift” to the Manager and an obligatory bunch of flowers for his wife. Sometimes it is reported, (as below) that the retiring manager concerned didn’t want a presentation or a party. This is fair enough, but curiosity makes us wonder why in some cases, this was so. It is well documented within the records of these occasions that many Managers suffered ill health for a long time, so a presentation wasn’t always possible or desirable. However, for the sake of things looking rosy, and also as a mark of respect, Martins Bank Magazine never actually reveals whether any particular Manager is actually just fed up and simply can’t wait to go! We are sure that even in a happy family such as Martins, this must, just occasionally, have happened?

1958 04 MBM.jpg 1946 to 1958 Mr W B Young Manager MBM-Wi58P52.jpg At the express wish of Mr. W. B. Young there was no presentation to mark his retirement from the Bank at the end of October, but the staff of Bellingham branch joined in drinking his health and in wishing him well before the ceremony of handing over the keys took place. Mr. Young entered the Bank in 1914 and served with H.M. Forces from 1917-19. He spent varying periods at Wingrove, Gosforth, Shotley Bridge and Newcastle upon Tyne before taking charge at Blackhill in 1928. He was appointed Pro Manager there in 1935. He became Clerk-in-Charge at Wearhead in 1937, and after a spell at St. John's Chapel, 1939-1946, was appointed Manager at Bellingham in 1946.