Opened in 1893, Hebden Bridge is an original branch of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Bank, which in 1928 amalgamates with the Bank of Liverpool and Martins Limited to create the modern day Martins Bank. Hebden Bridge is one of only a few Branches of Martins Bank to have been open continuously as a bank for more than one hundred and twenty years. Later, we will see the Branch Staff enjoying themselves at a district dinner, and we’ll look at a contemporary photograph of Hebden Bridge. First of all, we travel back to 1966, when Martins Bank Magazine mounts an ambitious and seemingly relentless trip through the Calder Valley, stopping at several Branches, including Hebden Bridge, to meet the staff and describe the places in which they work. As with so many of the smaller Yorkshire Branches visited on this occasion, very little is said either about the visit itself, or the branch, and pictures are also few and far between. It appears, too, that Martins Bank Magazine’s correspondents experience more than a little little difficulty with the local road signs as they travel from Lancashire into Yorkshire, with eyebrows firmly raised at some of the local place names…

Image © Barclays Ref: 0030/1263

In Lancashire there is a neighbourly mateyness about the roads. Burnley, for example, has a Todmorden Road; Bacup has Rochdale, Burnley and Todmorden Roads, each one leading to the town named; Todmorden reciprocates with Rochdale, Bacup and Burnley Roads. Leading eastwards down the Calder Valley from Todmorden is Halifax Road, which seemed to hint that all might not be well. We followed it for four miles with the snowy hills beginning to crowd in on each side and arrived in Hebden Bridge where, sure enough, Halifax Road was now King Street: obviously Hebden Bridge at some time felt it had been done wrong by and reacted firmly. Nearby there are some enthralling place names—Slack Bottom, Slack Top, New Delight, Popples and even Horrodiddle—but no Todmorden Road. What is more, when the road emerges again to pass on down the valley it has become Burnley Road—Burnley being nearly 13 miles to the North West through Todmorden. That is rubbing it in! Mr H. Lambert whose assorted and profitable business at Hebden Bridge covers hill farming, engineering, trousers, jeans, and the making of sectionalised buildings, was nearing retirement but full of knowledge of and enthusiasm for the area—and this was refreshing in a valley where a railway, a canal, a road and a river argue for the available space with cliff-hanging, four-storey terraced houses and factories of grey stone. In the space of four miles we had seen enough to realise that parts of the valley could be very attractive in the right conditions. Even the old-fashioned branch has been modernised to some extent and everyone on the young staff has ample space.

The end of days… Our thanks go once more to John Robertshaw for preserving a little piece of history - the last day of trading as Martins Bank is marked forever by this crossing stamp. Three days after this, 15 December 1969 is the “appointed day” on which by Act of Parliament, those Martins Branches that will continue to trade, must do so as Branches of Barclays Bank Limited.

… a little before the end of days… John Robertshaw has also provided this photograph, taken at the Martins Bank Manchester District Annual Dinner in 1966. whilst a large number of menus and tickets for District dinners have been donated to Martins Bank Archive, we still do not have either for the 1966 event, so for now we will have to guess what the staff were tucking into that night! The image shown here (left) is from the cover of the menu booklet for the 1964 Manchester District dinner.

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… and finally AFTER the end of days…

More thanks, this time to Robert Wade for another of his comtemporary shots, this time Hebden bridge, photographed by him in 2014. You can see many more photographs of Northern town and city shops offices and banks on Wadey’s flickr® pages, by clicking HERE .

Image © Barclays Ref: 0030/1263

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collection – Robert Wade

“The ghost of banking past”…

We are grateful to Dave Barton and Brian Harfield, who on separate dates on the way through Yorkshire in June 2018, spied Martins Bank Hebden Bridge apparently brought back from the dead. These picture were taken just two months after the branch had been permanently closed by Barclays. The Martins Bank lettering is remarkably well preserved after fifty years, and apart from the blanked off cash machine hole, very little has changed in that time either. As more and more bank branches are closed, many people will be surprised at how quickly they fade from memory, which is why we were especially pleased that first Dave then Brian, saw the building and thought of the Archive. These images represent more fleeting moments in the history of 10 Market Street Hebden Bridge – who knows, in a few generations’ time the locals might be mourning the demise of a fast food outlet on the same site!

As if it were still 1969… Image © Martins Bank Archive Collection – Dave Barton June 2018

… with the memories of an earlier great banking institution… Image © Martins Bank Archive Collection – Brian Harfield June 2018

… and the sign of one that steadfastly refuses to fade! Image © Martins Bank Archive Collection – Brian Harfield June 2018

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Mr T E Leah Joined the Bank Here 1914

Mr P B Walton Manager 1936 to 1938

Mr A S Dennett Joined the Bank Here 1941 to 1942

Mr A Scholes Manager 1941 to 1945

Mr E Barker Joined the Bank Here 1945 to 1946

Mr S Dennett Manager 1945 to 1953

Mr H Lambert Manager 1956 to 1966

Mr Gerald Carey On the Staff 1963 to 1965

Miss M Walker On the Staff 1966

Miss V Pickles On the Staff 1966

Mr A N Smith Manager 1966 onwards

Mr D H Sutcliffe On the Staff 1966

Mr J S Robertshaw On the Staff 1966

DISTRICT BANK LIMITED

LLOYDS BANK LIMITED

MARTINS BANK LIMITED

MIDLAND BANK LIMITED

YORKSHIRE BANK LIMITED

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Title: Type: Address: Index Number and District: Hours: Telephone: Services: Manager:

Martins Bank Limited 11-48-40 Hebden Bridge Full Branch 10 Market Street Hebden Bridge Yorkshire 744 Manchester Mon to Fri 1000-1500 Saturday 0930-1100 Telephone: Hebden Bridge 2121 Nightsafe Installed Mr A N Smith Manager

1893 3 January 1928 15 December 1969 Friday 6 April 2018

Opened by Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank Martins Bank Limited Barclays Bank Limited 20-38-91 Hebden Bridge This Branch was closed permanently from 12 noon

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