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 A very informal “arrangement”…
Cottingley is World famous
for one of the earliest “photoshop” tricks ever, when in 1917, two young
girls seem to have successfully captured the image of fairies at the bottom
of the garden! There is no illusion
however when the Bank of Liverpool and Martins comes to Cottingley to open a
front room branch – one of dozens of outlets that provide banking facilities
to some of England’s tiniest villages, literally from the front room of
someone’s house. Thanks to two letters preserved in Barclays Group Archives,
we gain a fascinating glimpse into the workings of the Bank of Liverpool and
Martins in 1922, in respect of this tiny sub-Branch opened at the end of the
First World War. The letters are
written to Head Office by Bingley Manager
Mr T G Walker,
and reading between the lines, it would appear that Head Office might not
actually have been acquainted with the existence of a sub-Branch at
Cottingley!
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It is Mr Walker’s
intention to advise the Bank’s Secretary at Head Office of the change of
address of Cottingley Sub Branch. The owner of the building has moved, so
the bank moved with them. This probably sets alarm bells ringing at the
Chief Accountant’s Department at Head Office, as Mr Walker’s second letter
shows. Local arrangements - known as
“Spanish customs” - occur in the
outposts of many large organisations, so renting somewhere to trade without
any formal agreement probably seemed quite normal to the Manager of
Bingley. We are however left wondering what the next letter from Head
Office might have said, but as Cottingley continues to trade from the front
room of a house for a further six years, it can’t have been so bad.
Perhaps it did lead to a
formal agreement between the bank and the landlord, and perhaps an
opportunity for the rent to be increased – after all even in 1922 paying
12/- every four weeks does seem an absolute bargain – that’s fifteen pence
per week! The “arrangement” at Cottingley is closed in 1929 just thirteen
months after the creation of the modern-day Martins Bank, but never fear,
the “front room” style of Branch does continue as an important part of the
Bank’s network of offices for several more decades…
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