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 The Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank opens a Branch at 4
Prospect Crescent Harrogate in 1920. This lithograph image is from 1922. In 1928 the merger of that bank with the Bank
of Liverpool and Martins takes Place, creating the modern-day Martins
Bank. Martins Bank has just the one
Branch in the town until 1962, when Show and Exhibition Branch Department opens a permanent Branch at the nearby GREAT YORKSHIRE SHOWGROUND. Whilst there are a
number of image available of the interior of Martins Bank at harrogate, we
have still to find an exterior shot from the 1960s. Martins Bank Magazine
pays its only visit to Harrogate in November 1950 and offers its readers the
following glimpse into life at the Branch. We note there is no mention of
fish and chips nor indeed of the iconic Betty’s Tea Rooms®…
 On November 14th we visited
Harrogate while on our way to see the autumn production of the North-Eastern
Players. We have commented from time to time about the great number of our
Branches which have received visits from one or other of our chiefs and we
were slightly surprised to discover that Harrogate appears to be a bit of an
outpost in this respect. Maybe in a few years the cares of high office will
necessitate a “cure” and the Branch will be frequented by highly-placed
officials taking the waters! There are about a dozen different varieties, all
separately piped and they may be sampled in the Valley Gardens and other
places.
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In Service: 1920 until 5 May 1978
Image © Martins Bank
Archive Collections
- W N Townson Bequest
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All internal Branch images on this page © Barclays Ref
0030-1207
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On
the whole, we prefer coffee or tea. Mr. C. E. Adkinson, the Manager, has been at Harrogate for a very
long time, nearly thirty years, in fact, but as he slyly observed, there
are many worse places in which to perform one's service than Harrogate. And it certainly is a very lovely town, a gracious town. It has
breeding and tradition and beautiful
shops, but then Harrogate didn't get the May blitz; in fact, only one bomb
was dropped and that hit the Majestic Hotel where we made our Headquarters.
At night time the town takes on all the charm of
Southport's Lord Street, without the crowds. The principal streets are
illuminated with strings of coloured electric lights which seem to stretch
for miles. These, combined with the floodlighting of the more famous
buildings, give the impression of the whole town being lit up with fairy
lights.
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Yet it is all tastefully
done and is nowhere vulgar. To see it thus illuminated in mid-November when
at 9 p.m. there is hardly anyone on the streets gave us our first feeling
of the approach of the Christmas season.
Mr. Adkinson met us at the
station and we drove to his home to meet Mrs. Adkinson and have lunch
before visiting the Branch. Mr. and Mrs. Adkinson became grandparents a day
or two before our visit.
Their other child is in
his last year at school. There are six on the staff at Harrogate. M.
Coates, ex-Medical Corps and Airborne Division, is second man. E. S.
Tapper, another ex-R.A.M.C. man, appears in a photograph in the Magazine in
this series of articles for the second time. We missed him when we visited
York but our photographer didn't, and he has been transferred to Harrogate
since our visit to York.
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All internal Branch images on this page © Barclays Ref
0030/1207
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 G.
T. Greenfield was one of the lucky people to participate in the Empire Air
Training Scheme and stayed in Canada and U.S.A. during his period of
training.
G. H. Hellewell, recently back from
National Service, spent part of his time on Military Police duty in Berlin
and gave us some very interesting impressions of life there and of the Russians
he encountered. He was quartered near the Spandau Prison where some of the
Nuremberg prisoners are confined. The only
girl on the staff is Miss P. Brocklehurst who has been at Harrogate for
seven years. Her work is highly spoken of and she is a charming little
lady. The following morning before leaving
for Newcastle we spent a couple of hours looking around.
Though frost lay on the
ground the sky was blue and the sun shone brilliantly. We explored the
Valley Gardens and the Woods beyond, admired " The Stray " that
belt of green— secured to the inhabitants by an Act of Parliament of
1770—which completely surrounds the old town, all later building being
beyond it. Harrogate is just one magnificent garden and the streets are
pleasant, the architecture tasteful, and the shops a woman's paradise. It
is also a wonderful centre for visiting the many places of interest nearby. We called in at the Branch again for a few minutes'
chat on our way to the station and took away with us the impression of a
happy staff and a well-run Branch.
We rarely get to see much of the back offices of Martins
Bank’s Branches, but luckily for us, the photographer has gone to town at
Harrogate. The first two photographs
below show the back office in the 1960s, following a refurbishment. The two images below that, show how
things looked originally. Funny
really, but in these times when we yearn for all things nostalgic, the
older layout seems much warmer and more friendly than the new one…
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All internal Branch images on this page © Barclays Ref
0030/1207
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Let’s Party like it’s
1969…
Time and tide wait for
no-one, so if you want to say goodbye to someone or something special, you
need to take action before the moment is gone! The merger with Barclays is
almost complete, and the staff of 4 Prospect Crescent Harrogate enjoy one
last drink together before everything changes forever…
From left to right:
John
Riddle, Rosalind Rowe
Mrs
Taylor, Mrs Trewhitt
Ben Trewhitt
(Manager)
Julian
Taylor (Pro Manager)
Our thanks to Julian Taylor
for this photograph, and his help in naming the assembled staff. it
certainly looks as if everyone was having a good time!
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Image Courtesy Julian
Taylor
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