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A picture containing text, outdoor

Description automatically generated

From burger buns

             to spring rolls…

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It’s 1966 -  Bournemouth is still in the county of Hampshire, and the suburb of Boscombe sits quietly at the seaside with its own pier.  The main shopping area is Christchurch Road, where the newest outlet to make a splash is Martins Bank. 

A bright shop front is finished off with the golden grasshopper of the South at right-angles to the building, above the front door. Steel and glass windows and frames incorporate the letter box and the night safe which are spaces equally apart on the front of the building.

In Service: 1966 until 12 December 1969

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Branch images © Barclays Ref: 0030-0324

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Although this particular building in Boscombe does not continue to trade as Barclays following the merger, the town itself moves from Hampshire to Dorset overnight - on April Fool’s Day 1974 - yes, REALLY!  In the 2020s it is refreshing to see that many of the unpopular arbitrary changes to country boundaries made on that fateful day are being looked at once more with a view to restoring the historic counties of England. 2023 will see the return of Westmorland, once the setting for large number of Martins Bank Branches, as the unwieldy Cumbria County administration is removed, and the area split back into two, covering roughly the historic counties of Cumberland and Westmorland. Sep 1.jpg

A curious history…

The story of the Bank’s connection to Bournemouth begins in 1925, when the Bank of Liverpool and Martins chooses 128/130 Old Christchurch Road as the location for its branch in the town.In 1934 Martins Bank relocates to 49 Old Christchurch Road, and this is the branch that survives the 1969 merger with Barclays and lasts until until 1975.  Interestingly, although the South Coast could not be further from its catchment area, the Halifax Equitable Bank also has a branch in the same road from about 1925, until its merger with the Bank of Liverpool and Martins in 1927.  Having its own sub-Branch locally, Barclays has no use for Boscombe Branch, which is closed on the eve of the merger in December 1969…

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Behind the scenes – perhaps it’s all a little too neat and tidy?

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Handy for lunch: This 1960s icon faces another -  the Wimpy Bar!

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Front of house – ready for business

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Mr R A Gerard

Clerk in Charge

1966 onwards

 

 

 

 

Title:

Type:

Address:

Index Number and District:

Hours:

 

Telephone:

Services:

Manager:

11-96-00 Boscombe

Self-Accounting Sub to 11-01-20 Bournemouth

520 Christchurch Road Boscombe Hampshire

168 South Western

Mon to Fri 1000-1500

Saturday 0900-1130

Bournemouth 37371

Nightsafe Installed

Mr R A Gerard Clerk in Charge

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Bootle Station (Cumberland)

1966

12 December 1969

Opened by Martins Bank Limited

Closed

Boston (Lincolnshire)

 

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