11-59-00 Berwick upon Tweed

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The town of Berwick upon Tweed is a quite unusual place. For one thing it has, throughout history, changed hands between England and Scotland many times. Add to this the legend that by leaving the town’s name out of the peace treaty at the end of the crimean war, Berwick is technically still at war with Russia, and you know it must be somewhere quite special. The Alnwick and County Bank opens a branch there, which operates for a total of ninety-five years, but for only two months of that under the ownership of Barclays.

The Alnwick and County Bank’s rarely seen symbol of the Bear in the Woods becomes extinct in 1875, when the North Eastern Banking Company takes over its branches. The Branch photograph shows two more endangered species, a Martins office - which through the economies of reducing branch duplication following the merger, has fallen victim to early closure - and a good old fashioned British red telephone box. The latter might of course be eyed with some bemusement by today’s 11 year olds, who having never seen a red (or indeed ANY kind of) phone box before, will probably be wondering if “The Doctor” has a new time machine…

In Service: 1865 until 23 February 1970

Image © Barclays Ref: 0030-0173

Berwick Branch remains open as Martins until 23 February 1970, when business is transferred to the local Barclays Branch at 22 Hide Hill.Over the years Berwick upon Tweed has had FIVE sub branches, although one of them is technically mobile. Banking has been transacted at the CORN EXCHANGE, LOWICK, SPITTAL and TWEEDMOUTH, and on the HOLY ISLAND of Lindisfarne, where a manager with car full of cash, drives out over the sea to serve the islanders. It’s something of a shame then, that when Martins Bank Magazine visits Berwick in 1965, there seems to have been so little to write home about…

1965 03 MBM.jpg And so to Berwick with views most of the way of Bamburgh, Beal Sands, the Farne Islands and Holy Island to seaward, and Cheviot to the north. Berwick has known Romans, Saxons, Danes and Scots and there are as many Scots as English in the Borough today, and some Scottish banks. A town which changed hands 13 times in the 340 years prior to 1482 can be expected to show its chequered story in its castle, its bridges, its fortifications and the variety of its architecture. Our branch, newly decorated, blends admirably with an adjoining hotel where at lunch we enjoyed some of the best Tweed salmon we have ever tasted.

Once a bank, ALWAYS a bank?

We were delighted to be contacted by Robert Clark who in 2012 kindly sent us this photo showing Berwick branch, still operating as a bank and still with the wonderfully rare sight of the red telephone box outside. It is always great to receive contemporary images of former Martins Bank branches, so next time you are passing one of them, please have your mobile phone, iPad® or digital camera at the ready, and send your pictures to us at the usual email address martinsbankarchive@btinternet.com . The resurrection of the TSB Bank meant that Berwick upon Tweed did have a branch for a while, but the axe has fallen on most bank branches in the country, as we await the arrival of “banking hubs” via a new Post Office® initiative…

Image © Barclays Ref: 0030-0173

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections – Robert Clark



Mr C Patterson Joined the Bank Here 1914 to 1915	Mr D W Moscrop On the Staff 1925 to 1928	Mr D W Air Joined the Bank Here 1940 to 1942	Mr J D Henderson On the Staff 1942 to 1946	Mr R T Turnbull Joined the Bank Here 1950 to 1951	Mr J H Wedderburn Manager 1958 to 1962



Mr T H Donkin Manager 1962 onwards	Mr T R Gregory On the Staff 1961 to 1965	Miss I E Bell On the Staff 1965	Miss S V Stevenson On the Staff 1965	Mr R J Scott On the Staff 1965	Mr W A Davidson On the Staff 1965



Mr W Bennett On the Staff 1965