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 Martins Bank opens a Branch at Dudley, in the heart
of the Black Country in 1961, sharing these plain but functional premises
with an insurance company in a nicely built “mirror-image” kind of building.
(See below).
Set back from the road, the branch has easy access, and on
the inside it benefits from a spacious banking hall. Dudley is retained by Barclays at the time
of the 1969 merger, and is kept open for a further fourteen years.
Shortly after the branch is opened by Martins, Martins Bank
Magazine takes a drive out to Dudley to meet the staff and write the
following feature article for its Winter 1961 edition…
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In Service: Thursday 14
September 1961 until February 1983
Branch Images © Barclays
0030-0853
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 Although
the Black Country is very much built up so that one motors out from
Birmingham to places like Dudley through what seems to be a completely
built-up area, Dudley has managed to preserve its own individuality, though
it took a car ride, painstakingly organised by Mr. J. E. Davies, Manager of
our new branch there, to enable us properly to appraise the County Borough
of Dudley. Despite the
fact that these Midland towns owe their present importance to the
coalfields and the Industrial Revolution, the history of Dudley, for
example, goes back much further than that, and, in fact, it appears in the
Domesday Book in which reference is made to William Fitz Ansculf, who
'holds Dudley and there is his castle'.
Branch
Images © Barclays 0030-0853
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 The
ruined castle which now dominates the countryside, the view from whose
walls embraces nine counties, is not the original edifice. This was
demolished in the 12th century on the orders of Henry II as a punishment
for the owner's support of the rebellion of Prince Henry against his
father. It was rebuilt between 1265 and around 1312 and was largely
destroyed by fire in 1750. The first surprise one
gets on touring Dudley is to find the number of green and pleasant' places
it contains, even an occasional tree-lined street, while four miles out in
one direction there is open country. The second
surprise is to find some extremely fine modern buildings with very gracious
settings, such as the Council House, as fine a set of municipal offices as
we have seen anywhere. And that brings us
to our new branch. With the co-operation of all concerned we and the Royal Insurance
Company have been allowed to add a building which Dudley can be proud
of. Situated right opposite the
General Post Office, the two-storeyed building houses the Bank in its left
wing and the 'Royal' in its right, the first-floor rooms supported by a
colonnade through which one will eventually
pass into gardens and parkland now being laid out by the Corporation. The
building is well set back from the street, with its own car park in front,
and with the garden setting at the rear with public access beside our
branch it cannot fail to impress favourably all who see it. The Bank's
hanging sign and that of the 'Royal' are mounted on posts set in the ground
at the front of the car park. The interior
is attractively planned and tastefully furnished, with plenty of room for
expansion.
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It is the sort of branch
which gives forth a friendly and homely feeling and one in which the staff
can take a pride. A sign of the
passing of time is to be found in the appointment of a Midland District man
to be the first manager. Mr. K. R. Chance, who opened the branch at
Shirley, was the first; Mr. J. E. Davies is the second. The District is now
old enough to be producing some of its own management personnel, a very
good and healthy sign. Mr. Davies was educated at Oldbury County High School,
and entered the Bank in 1953. He has served at Wednesbury, Walsall,
Birmingham City Office, Birmingham Five Ways and at Midland District Office,
where he had an all-round training both on Outdoor Inspection and on the
loan side. He was a founder member of Oldbury Round Table and is now its
Chairman. He is also a member of the British Junior Chamber of Commerce in
Birmingham. Second-in-command is Mr. A.
Warren who was until recently Accountant at Birmingham City Office, a post
which he unfortunately had to relinquish owing to temporary ill-health. We
first had the pleasure of meeting him on the occasion of our visit to
Kidderminster in 1957 and the new branch is fortunate in having such a
sound and experienced man to help it along.
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Image
© Martins Bank Archive Collections
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Remastered 7 August 2021
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An additional man had not then been appointed, but on the day
of our visit Mr. B. J. Dale, from the Midland District Relief staff was
there. The ladies
are represented by Miss C. M. Sandel who entered the Bank in 1960 at
Kidderminster. The new branch should do
well in this busy place and the staff are certainly keen to put their
branch on the map.
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Now well into its
fifth decade, the building at 23 Wolverhampton Street Dudley is still
looking good. There is evidence that
the two night safes have been removed and bricked over, and of course the
name above the door has changed…
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Image ©
Barclays 0030/0853
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Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections –
Keith Mason 2015
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