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Save for the Twenty-First
Century wheelie-bin, the Institute at Cononley seems to have changed very
little since it was home to a Friday Morning Banking Service from the early
part of the Twentieth Century until the mid-1950s.
There has however been a
Banking Service in the Village since at least the 1890s, when Cononley opens
as a sub-Branch to Skipton.
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In Service:
Pre 1906 until 31 August 1956
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This was under the
ownership of the Craven Bank, which merged with the Bank of Liverpool in
1906.
Image
© Barclays
The Banking service starts
life in a house at No 80 Main Street, which as we shall see later, becomes
home to the Cononley Village Institute before a permanent hall can be
built. The sub-Branch at Cononley
endures the various changes of bank that eventually bring it under the
ownership of the modern day Martins Bank, and staff are sent from Skipton
to attend the customers of Cononley each Friday. As we shall also see later on this page,
the opening hours have changed a few times down the years, but were almost
always on a Friday. Skipton has a number of branches and sub branches under
its control at various points from the days of the Craven Bank until those
of Martins Bank, but so many tiny branches cannot be indefinitely
sustained, and through reasons of wartime and economics amongst others,
many are closed well before the 1969 merger with Barclays.
This paying in slip was the property of the late
Trevor hodgson. It was used on the last day of
banking service at Cononley, 31 August 1956
Images
- Martins Bank Archive Collections © D Gulliver
“We have now decided to
close your branch”…
If you thought that Bank
Branch Closures was an annoying twenty-first century phenomenon, think
again: When Martins decides to close Cononley in 1956, the Bank is busy
pruning its portfolio ready to embark on an ambitious programme of new
builds, refits and closures, and a second Southward expansion. Not having to pay rent and rates on a
number of tiny Northern sub-Branches will help fund the Bank’s ambition to
be a truly NATIONAL concern.
Here we have a curious
comparison with our modern day banks – most are closing branches in all but
the largest towns, as the use of
technology by customers makes bricks and mortar redundant. Yet, sixty years earlier we have ANOTHER branch closure programme, again
for reasons of economic sense. What
is even more spooky, is that the way in which the closure communication to
the customers of Cononley is worded, is practically identical to that used
today when a Branch is closed.
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We are grateful to Dave
Baldwin whose own research into the history of Cononley sub-Branch, lead us
to that of David Gulliver who was able to provide us with a copy of the
original letter sent out to customers, to advise them of the closure of the
service:
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Cononley’s banking
history…
 We are grateful for the help of Local Historian
David Gulliver, who together with the late Trevor Hodgson wrote “The
History of Cononley (an Airedale Village)” which was published in the year
2000.
David has pieced together
details of the Banking service at Cononley, first provided in the 1800s by
the Craven Bank and ended in 1956 by Martins Bank. We are currently trying to trace exactly
when the Bank moved from 80 Main Street to the purpose built Cononley
Institute, whose founders, as you will see further down this page receive
the help of the Directors of the Bank of Liverpool…
{Martins Bank and its
predecessors in Cononley.
It
is not known if the Craven Bank always occupied 80, Main Street or when it
transferred to the Village Institute. However, in 1906/7 the Village
Institute (as yet without a building of their own opened a reading room in
‘Craven Bank House’ which was 80, Main Street. By the 1920’s there was a
confectionery shop in the building.
Craven
Bank Limited
1895
Saturdays 12.30-1.30
1900 Ditto
1904 Fridays 1.45-2.45 [Kelly’s Directory of
the West Riding of Yorkshire].
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Closure advice sent Trevor Hodgson, a customer
at Cononley sub-Branch.
Images
- Martins Bank Archive Collections © D Gulliver
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Bank
of Liverpool Limited
1906 Fridays 11-1.30
Recorded
as being at 80 Main Street, Cononley
1908 Fridays 11-2 [Kelly’s Directory]
1917
Fridays 11-1.15 [Kelly’s Directory]
Bank
of Liverpool and Martins Limited
1922 Fridays 10.30-12.15 [Kelly’s Directory]
1927 ditto [Ditto]
Martins
Bank Limited
1932 Fridays 10.30 -12.15
Recorded
as being at Cononley Village Institute, Main Street
1936
[Kelly’s Directory] Hours unknown
1956 Bank at Cononley Village Institute closed
on 31st August 1956.}
Education, no politics, non-sectarian,
and tee-total…
In 1906, the founders of the
Cononley Village Institute are given space by the Bank of Liverpool in the
property used for the once-a-week Banking Service, known as Craven Bank
House. We were intrigued to find in David Gulliver’s collection, two letters
written by the founders, appealing to recipients to help in any way they
could, to achieve a venue in the village where people could better
themselves, and enjoy wholesome entertainment without fear of political or
religious bias, and of course without the temptations of alcohol. In the
first letter below, the Directors of the Bank
of Liverpool are thanked for their generosity in giving the Cononley Village
Institute its first – somewhat cramped – home, and the message to prospective
investors is clear and strong – the village must have “an attraction that
will keep our young men from degenerating”…
The
second letter hammers home the importance to Cononley of having some way to
keep its young men on the straight and narrow. Entertainment will be at a
minimum – EDUCATION
is the key, and a library will
form a key part of the planned Institute. It is interesting to note that the
Village has no “Gentry” – that is to say no local wealth in the form of a
titled or otherwise wealthy landowner, to whose vanity the Village Institute
founders can appeal to become benefactor and stump up the cash for a suitable
venue…
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