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Opened
in 1868, Kirkby Lonsdale is an original branch of Messrs Wakefield,
Crewdson’s Kendal Bank, which merges with the Bank of Liverpool in 1893. The
building we see here is opened by the Bank of Liverpool in 1898, announced in
the local press as follows:
Westmorland
Gazette 17 September 1898
Image © Northcliffe Media
Limited, created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD, and
reproduced with kind permission of The
British Newspaper Archive
As we can see in the pictures below,
Kirkby Lonsdale undergoes expansion, which swallows up the shop next door. The object
is, of course, to achieve larger premises that allow for an expansion in
business.
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In Service: 1868 until 25 January 2022
Branch Images © Barclays
Ref 0030-1520
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This
is a prudent move, as banking between the mid 1970s and the late 1990s will
rely on an enormous quantity of paper transactions and records to the point
where staff are constantly boxing up and send off items to be stored in
central warehouses. Having survived
the merger with Barclays, Kirkby Lonsdale remained open into the twenty-first
century, albeit on much reduced opening hours, and closure was finally
announced by Barclays for 25 January 2022. Very little else has changed at
this listed building, apart from the addition of a Barclays cash machine in
the space of the large leftmost window. Whilst Martins Bank Magazine
doesn’t pay Kirkby Lonsdale a visit, we have been able to dig out a few
short articles concerning members of the staff, which we have reproduced
below….
Small town expansion…x
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Branch Images © Barclays
Ref 0030-1520
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 xA dog’s best friend…
A lady
customer at Kirkby Lonsdale branch announced sadly the loss of her dog –
“Is it”, asked Mr R Jopson, “a brown and white terrier with rather long
legs?” “Yes”, replied the lady, hopefully. “If you go down the street to
the Green, I think you will find it playing with some other dogs”. The lady
went to the Green to return later, with her dog and full of gratitude. “All
part of the service” blandly explains Mr G A Bateson, our manager…
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 It started at a dance…
Hazel
Robinson of our Kirkby Lonsdale Branch was chosen to be the first ‘Miss
Westmorland Young Farmer’ at a dance in Whittington in July 1968. She is
chairman of Hutton Young Farmers’ Club.
Unaccustomed as she is…
 Hazel Robinson of Kirkby Lonsdale branch, featured in our Autumn 1968 issue as
the first 'Miss Westmorland Young Farmer', is in the news. She was one of a
team of three representing Hutton Young Farmers' Club which won the final
of the Westmorland youth public speaking competitions, held at County Hall,
Kendal, on November 20.
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