11-82-70 Manchester Shudehill

Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank

The Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank’s Branch at 77 Shudehill opens for business in 1873, and is one of a large number of Manchester City Branches that joins Martins in 1928 when the of the Bank of Liverpool and Martins, and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank amalgamate. The Bank of Liverpool and Martins Limited also opened a branch in Shudehill - at number 99 - in 1921, but at the time of the amalgamation with the L and Y Bank, this branch was closed in favour of the premises at Number 77 Shudehill. It is typical of the grand, beautiful buildings built or used by the L & Y, and our image (courtesy W N Townson bequest) shows the branch before the amalgamation. Sadly, this is the only image of Shudehill branch that is currently available, but later on this page, we have a story about a raid at the branch which is captured by the ITN news cameras in 1962, and details of how you can watch the footage, along with two other short news clips about raids at Martins Bank branches. First of all, our feature concerns the retirement of the Manager, Mr Openshaw, who is in charge of Shudehill at the time of the raid….

In Service: 1873 until 10 October 1980

1922 Shudehill Branch Exterior as L & Y Bank PA.jpg

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collection – W N Townson Bequest

1962 04 MBM.jpg 1948 to 1962 Mr J J Openshaw Manager MBM-Wi62P52.jpg Mr. J. J. Openshaw, Manager at Shudehill since 1948, retired at the end of August. There was no formal presentation ceremony, at his own request, but a cheque was presented to him by Mr. B. E. Lockwood from his many friends and colleagues, and will be used for the purchase of a bookcase. A box of chocolates was sent to Mrs. Openshaw. During his last day at the office many customers called to express their good wishes, and in the evening he and Mrs. N. Hollins, who retired from the branch on the same day, entertained the staff and friends at a cocktail party at the branch. Mr. Openshaw entered the Lancashire & Yorkshire Bank in 1916, and served at various branches, including Haslingden, Blackburn, Warrington, Manchester City Office and Brown Street. In 1929, whilst at Blackburn he was in charge of the sub office at Cherry Tree. He was given his first signing authority in 1938, at Manchester City Office and became Pro Manager there the following year. He was appointed Accountant at Brown Street in 1941 and from 1944-46 served with H.M. Forces, resuming his appointment on his return. In 1947 he became Assistant Manager at Brown Street and Manager at Shudehill in 1948.

A sort of bank raid?

1967 Mr E J Mellor MBM-Au67P22 In 1962 there was what we might call an “unconventional raid” at Shudehill branch, involving £14,000 in cash - equivalent in 2022 to £332,500(!) A serious sum of money, and a matter to be handled with the utmost care and sensitivity - So why was this particular incident a little out of the ordinary? We will let Eric Mellor, who was actually there, tell us what happened…

“I remember the occasion very well as I was at Shudehill from 1956 to 1960. Every Saturday morning Jim Openshaw the Manager and Bob Agnew the Branch porter used to take a suitcase full of cash to Spring Gardens branch in Openshaw’s car. Shudehill branch was opposite the old Smithfield Market and always had loads of surplus cash from the Market Traders. It was a regular Saturday morning trip and obviously somebody in the Manchester underworld had been tipped off by somebody working in the market. This particular Saturday the case full of cash was put in the boot of Openshaws car and as the car set off for Spring Gardens it was rammed by this other vehicle and the cash was stolen. So it was not so much as a raid on the branch rather a raid on Openshaw’s car. I had left the branch the previous year but remember quite clearly reading the account of the raid in the newspapers. Neither Openshaw nor the porter were injured but obviously were badly shaken by the event. If I rememebr rightly Jim Openshaw should have retired the previous year but had been asked to stay on for a further two years and had agreed to do so as he still had a young family to support. Needless to say he was quickly retired after this event but his retirement was not a happy one as he had no real interest outside banking and he died about two years later.”

Taking used notes in a suitcase to another branch is definitely a “Spanish Custom” very much of its time, and would no doubt cause an international incident if it were to be repeated in these days of armoured bullion vans! At the time of this snatch in 1962, £14,000 was the kind of fortune that could easily purchase a couple of houses and several cars. As for the safety of both the staff and the money INSIDE branches, it would still be another six or seven years before banks routinely built bandit screens into their new branches, separating cashier from customer forever.

In the absence of a Martins Bank exterior view of 77 Shudehill, this “then and now” feature really is VERY then and VERY now – Our thanks to THE PASTA FACTORY, who in 2016 sent us the twenty-first century shot of this lovely old building. It’s good to see so little has changed in this part of Shudehill in the best part of ONE HUNDRED years!

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections –

W N Townson Bequest 1922 to date

Image © The Pasta Factory 2016



Mr E C Aspinall Joined the Bank here 1912	Mr H A Paersch On the staff 1922	Mr A E Knight Joined the Bank Here 1922 to 1922	Mr W G F Jessop Pro Manager 1922 to 1928	Mr F N Openshaw On the Staff 1923 to 1929	Mr L Richards Joined the Bank here 1929 to 1931



Mr R S Pawlyn Accountant 1929 to 1936 Manager 1941 to 1948	Mr R B Bedford on the Staff 1935 to 1936 approx	Mr G Dawson Pro Manager 1936 to 1939	Mr W Watson Signing Authority 1939 to 1949	Mr W T Hughston Joined the Bank Here 1947 to 1948	Mr A H Cudworth Pro Manager 1948 to 1950



Mr J J Openshaw Manager 1948 to 1962	Mr C H Jones Pro Manager 1950 to 1951	Mr J E Robinson On the Staff 1951	Mr M M Bent Joined the Bank Here 1951 to 1951	Mr W Hill Pro Manager 1951 to 1952	Mr E J Mellor On the Staff 1956 to 1960



Mr D C Reilly Manager 1962 to 1965	Mr G Ashworth Manager 1965 onwards