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 It’s 1984, and Mr A F Hill of Barclays, wants to mark the closure of
his former Martins Branch at Brighton North Street by producing a pamphlet
entitled “Martins Bank Branches in Sussex”.
His aim is to leave some kind of permanent record of Martins’
involvement with the county of Sussex, before, as he puts it “memories fade”
and “remaining records are lost to view”.
With the help of former colleagues, he produces an excellent pamphlet
which records in some detail the origins – and the fate – of Martins’ 1930s
expansion into the South of England.
The following extract looks at the short life of our Hastings branch,
and then Martins Bank Magazine pays the branch a visit about a year after it
is first opened.
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 Martins’ Branch in Hastings was opened at 30 Havelock Road in
May 1961 under the management of Mr Eric Morris with Mr Norman Frake as his second
man. This team stayed together for five years, during which time the business
expanded with the Branch consolidating its representation in the town. The Branch was situated in the middle of the commercial
centre of Hastings and is in fact the only Martins Bank premises in the
county to retain a link with the banking industry, as the premises are now occupied by a
Branch of the Trustee Savings Bank. The
Branch was soon closed after the merger with Mr Morris moving to Barclays St
Leonards on the 1st January 1970 and the office itself finally closing on the
6th April 1970. The majority of the business accounts moved to St Leonards
and the remaining accounts were taken over by Hastings office.
ABRIDGED FROM “MARTINS BANK BRANCHES IN SUSSEX” © A F HILL 1984
Courtesy W N Townson Bequest
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 One cannot visit Hastings for
the first time without being conscious of being near the scene of tremendous events
in our island history. It was not far from here that William the Conqueror
came ashore and made his way inland some six miles to encounter the hastily
summoned forces of Harold on Senlac hill at Battle. The noble ruins of Battle
Abbey on the crown of the hill, part of which have been restored and are in
use as a girls' public school, are a fitting reminder of these events of long
ago. In
Hastings itself, however, the only visible link with the past is the ruined
castle, the first Norman fort to be built by William after the Conquest, from
which a fine view of the town is obtained. Although a community of some
66,000 people, Hastings gives the impression of being a place which is just
beginning to recover from a period of depression.
 The front is shabby and
nondescript but things improve rapidly in the direction of St. Leonards and a
large block of new flats which dominates the scene at that end will be offset
by a large new hotel which is to be built in Hastings itself, planned to rise
to over 20 floors. It will provide a focal point just as Blackpool Tower does
on the Lancashire coast.Our branch at Hastings was planned some years ago
and, as soon as a suitable site became available we started to build and the
new branch is yet another fine specimen of modern bank architecture, with
beautiful woodwork, panel lighting and tasteful fittings. An innovation which ought to be very popular
with the ladies is a space immediately underneath the counter top for
handbags or shopping bags, while the counter top is left free for the
transaction of banking business. Another noteworthy feature is the glass
entrance door on which is mounted a large coloured replica of the Bank's coat
of arms. It is unusual to find a new branch staffed entirely by men
from the District in which it is situated, but this is true of Hastings.
 The Manager, Mr. E. J. Morris,
entered the Bank in 1936 at 68, Lombard Street. He served with H.M. Forces
from 1939-1946, afterwards returning to Lombard Street. He went to Ipswich in
1956 and there he acted as second-in-command until he was given the chance to
open the new branch at Hastings. He hasn't got the easiest of jobs as there
is very little industry and the place is a fairly typical seaside town with a
permanent population of retired people and the usual holiday influx. There is business, however, and it will
be Mr. Morris's task to see that we get our fair share of it. To help him he has Mr. N. R. Frake as
second-in-command. Mr. Frake is another Lombard Street man who started his
career there in 1951 and reached Hastings via Bexhill, Tunbridge Wells,
Moorgate and District Office Relief Staff. He is well known in the district
as a tenor and, as a keen member of two operatic societies, appears in
several shows each year. He also fulfils singing engagements in various
places, so that his identification with Martins Bank ought to help the new
branch. The third man is Mr. C. J. Lumley, whose father is on the
staff at Bexhill. He entered the Bank at Kingsway in 1958 and has also served
on the Relief Staff. The ladies are represented by Miss P. M. Eldridge who
entered the Bank as a trainee at Bexhill in 1960. Miss Eldridge is a capable
young lady and from her photo (below) you will not be surprised to learn that
she is interested in modelling for photographic portraiture. We visited the
branch on Monday, July 17th, and we had the pleasure of entertaining Mr. and
Mrs. Morris to lunch before leaving for Bexhill.
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