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Never
judge a book by its cover… It is a
long time indeed since we have seen two streets divided by a wall in England,
let alone a bank branch that appears to be someone’s home.
There are
countless examples of the latter, in our online archive – so called “front
room branches” – that is to say they look actually occupy a room in someone’s
house.
In the
case of Martins Bank’s sub-Branch at Brotton however it could almost be a
case of street corner, or cobbled, or alleyway banking – all we need is a few
children kicking a ball about and a mother pushing a pram to make this the most
unlikely setting for a bank!
Under
Barclays, this lovely setting continues to offer a banking service until the
year 2000 – a very long run indeed for a branch that is first opened in
October 1874 by the North Eastern Banking Company. |
In Service: 22 October
1874 until 25 July 1942, then 1946 until 7 April 2000
Image
© Barclays Ref: 0030-0445
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In the
first two decades of the twenty-first Century, being “the ONLY bank in town” (or, after a
round of closures), “the LAST bank in town” carries with
it a feeling of the inevitability of how much the internet has changed our
lives permanently. The last bank then closes, and we find ourselves without
bank branches apart from in the larger towns and cities – even these have the
axe hanging over them. For Brotton,
closure came earlier than most – right at the start of the new century, but
after a run of one hundred and twenty-six years as the only bank in town, we
feel it has an exemplary record in the service of the local community. |
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Intellectual Property Rights ©
Martins Bank Archive Collections 1988 to date. M M
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