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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.

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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…

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1965 03 MBM.jpgAnd 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

1925 to 1928 Mr D W Moscrop MBM-Sp59P54.jpg

1940 to 1942 Mr D W Air joined the bank here MBM-Sp69P09.jpg

1944 to 1946 Mr J C Henderson MBM-Su64P08.jpg

1950 to 1951 Mr R T Turnbull joined the bank here MBM-Au67P03.jpg

1958 to 1962 Mr J H Wedderburn Manager MBM-Au62P55.jpg

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

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1961 to 1965 Mr T R Gregory MBM-Su65P05.jpg

1965 Miss I E Bell MBM-Au65P14.jpg

1965 Miss S V Stevenson MBM-Au65P14.jpg

1965 Mr R J Scott MBM-Au65P14.jpg

1965 Mr W A Davidson MBM-Au65P14.jpg

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

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1965 Mr W Bennett MBM-Au65P14.jpg

Mr W Bennett

On the Staff

1965

 

 

 

 

 

BANK OF SCOTLAND

BARCLAYS BANK LIMITED

 

BRITISH LINEN BANK

 

 

 

 

 

MARTINS BANK LIMITED

 

NATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK OF SCOTLAND

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND

 

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Title:

Type:

Address:

Index Number and District:

Hours:

 

 

Telephone:

Services:

Manager:

Martins Bank Limited 11-59-00 Berwick upon Tweed                      

Full Branch

47 Hide Hill Berwick upon Tweed Northumberland

310 North Eastern

Mon Tue Wed and Fri 1000-1500 

Thu 0930-1200

Saturday 0930-1230

Berwick upon Tweed 7545

Nightsafe Installed

Mr T H Donkin Manager

 

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Bentham

(Yorkshire)

1865

1875

7 August 1914

18 December 1918

3 January 1928

1942

1946

23 February 1970

Opened by Alnwick and County Bank

North Eastern Banking Company

Bank of Liverpool

Bank of Liverpool and Martins

Martins Bank Limited

Closed for World War II

Re-opened

Closed and business transferred to Barclays 22 Hide Hill

Berwick-upon-Tweed

Corn Exchange

 

 

 Intellectual Property Rights © Martins Bank Archive Collections 1988 to date.

M

 

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