In the early 1960s, our branch at Fishergate Preston, undergoes a complete transformation – the kind that involves opening a temporary branch whilst the main one is knocked down and completely rebuilt. Martins feels that the business generated by the branch, and its location in relation to other local towns and industries is sufficient to warrant such a major upheaval. Thus the former Head Office of the Preston Union Bank disappears into the history books, and what is (for 1964/5) a state of the art modern functional bank building rises in its place. Those of us who have worked in the new building know its maze of winding internal staircases and endless rooms behind the more modern façade seen by customers. On this page we see the sheer optimism of the times, reflected by Martins Bank Magazine, as 38 Fishergate is reborn into the swinging sixties…
Out with the old…
			This is 38 Fishergate Branch as it was before the rebuild – unchanged since the days of the Union Bank of Preston, with oppresive dark wood and a cathedral-like interior that must have made people feel they were in the public library, and that they might be chastised for speaking! The building might resemble an enormous safe, but looks too scary for the optimistic 1960s.
…and in with the NEW!
the photographs on this page show Preston branch as it is today and as it was in the 1930's when windows were first inserted to supplement the roof lighting in a building unchanged since 1869. In 1894, as the Preston Union Bank Limited, it was absorbed by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Bank and that, briefly, is how Martins came by the site at 38 Fishergate.
				Until last August the staff had spent two cramped and uncomfortable years in temporary premises at 19 Lune Street and it is not surprising that the pleasure and relief of working at last in a modern office was still being reflected three months later in sighs of joy whenever the visitor remarked on some feature of the new branch. An adjoining shop, deep but with a narrow frontage, has provided a machine room parallel with the main office and also an entrance hall, lift and staircase to the new Trustee Department and the tenanted accommodation above. Preston branch today is not merely impressive; it is handsome. The entrance porch is of clear glass but the windows are of hand-made tinted glass set in aluminium frames, the counter is of teak, faced with Sicilian marble, and the walls of the main banking office are of wide elm boarding with one large panel of silver grey marble.
The management rooms are lined with cedar of Lebanon against a maple background and hot water coils in the ceilings warm all the office areas.Clearly the transformation has cost a lot of money and even the more humble rooms would not disgrace the London Hilton. Does the Hilton staff kitchen, for example, have built-in teak wall cupboards with magnetised catches ?
It is worth remembering that the administrative headquarters of the Lancashire County Council are at Preston which, with a population of more than 110,000, is 10 miles from the next town, Blackburn, 17 miles from Blackpool, Southport and Clitheroe, 19 from Bolton, 21 from Lancaster and 30 from Liverpool.
“An informal visit by the Mayor and Mayoress of Preston at the opening of the new premises in August was an occasion for smiles all round.” Left to right: Mrs E. M. Whiteside, Mr W. Hill (Manager) The Mayoress, Mr E. H. Priestley (District General Manager) The Mayor (Alderman William Beckett) PHOTO: LANCASHIRE EVENING POST
		Its municipally owned dock system this year dealt with 3,127 ships and over two million tons of cargo ranging from bananas to sulphur. All this together with the rich farmlands of the Fylde area and the trade and manufacturing of the town itself provides a diversification reflected in the business of our main office and its three sub branches at Friargate (the original Bank of Liverpool branch), Penwortham and Moor Park. The County Borough of Preston has understandably become something of a metropolis and it has the added distinction of being mentioned more often than most places by those who refer to a rare occurrence as something that happens 'once in a Preston Gild'. The Preston Gild dates back to 1328. It is held every 20 years when the Freemen of the Borough are elected together with a Gild Mayor and, while ancient privileges and ceremonies are still observed with trade, religious and other processions, old laws affecting the proper conduct of the city are still re-enacted.
Image courtesy dorothy Weights (Nee Morrison) 1965: The Staff of 38 Fishergate Preston are shown here on the day that they move in to their newly built branch. You can see the individual staff members in our staff gallery below. x
Owing to wars and other interruptions inevitable over a period of 600 years the next Gild is not due until 1972, but it should be quite an occasion. Our new Trustee Office, established on the second floor, is the second in the Manchester District and has an Income Tax section. Its services will cover a very wide area and there is ample room for expansion as the business increases.
					Six members of the Preston Staff, who were away when the staff photographs were taken – Standing (left to right): R. A. Pope (Trustee Dept), M. Bretherton, G. Noon Seated: Miss S. Reeder, E. Pearce (Pro Manager), Miss D.Seed.
Here and in the banking office below, the staff are just as cheerful as they appear on the photographs. From Mr William Hill, our Preston manager, we learnt that at 38 Fishergate they worship at two shrines—happiness and efficiency—two sure ways of increasing business, and we suspect that if a glum face is to be found there it will be, as they say, 'only once in a Preston Gild'.
For her playing of Bach and Chopin Mrs Judith Bamber of our Preston branch won the Livesey trophy, awarded for the highest marks in the Lytham St Annes Music Festival. Judith has been playing the piano for eleven years and practices 'much less than before I was married' but up to seven hours a week prior to entering a competition. Earlier this year at the Crosby Festival of Music and Dancing Judith was awarded first prize in the sonata class, second in the Chopin and third in the modern.

Mr C Whiteley Joined the Bank Here 1923 to 1933	Mr C S Boden On the Staff 1924 to 1925		Mr J D C Thompson Joined the Bank Here 1925 to 1928	Mr C Spencer On Staff 1927-37 Pro Manager 1937-43
Mr P W Goostrey Sub Manager 1934 to 1936	Mr C E Harris Manager 1938 to 1941		Mr K E Tomlinson On the Staff 1940 to 1941	Mr H Mayhall On the Staff 1940 to 1942
Mr E Barlow Accountant 1941 to 1945	Mr L R Tomlinson Manager 1941 to 1952		Mr W T Coupe Pro Manager 1943 to 1957	Mr P J Crankshaw Joined the Bank Here 1945 to 1947
Mr M P M Brown Joined Here 1951 to 1952 Deputy Manager 1969	Mr F A Cowell Sub Manager 1952		Mr J Chadwick Manager 1952 to 1963	Mr J M Darlington Joined the Bank Here 1954 to 1956
Mr T McLeod Pro Manager 1957 to 1960	Mr L Ball On the Staff 1958-60 Pro Manager 1967		Mr H M Isherwood Sub Manager 1959 to 1960	Mr A M Ellis On the Staff 1960 to 1963
Mr Harry Taylor Sub Manager 1960 to 1963	Mr G Hughes On the Staff 1960 to 1965		Mr K O Walmsley Pro Manager 1960 to 1965	Mr A N Barratt Deputy Manager 1963 to 1965
Mr W Hill Manager 1963 to 1968	Mr E Pearce Pro Manager 1964 to 1967		Mr A W Wescombe Deputy Manager 1965	Mr J Stanning Pro Manager 1965
Mr C G Turner Messenger 1965	Miss A Golding On the Staff 1965		Miss A Holden On the Staff 1965	Miss A Pemberton On the Staff 1965
Miss A Silverwood On the Staff 1965	Miss A Spenceley On the Staff 1965		Miss D M Morrison On the Staff 1965	Miss J Holroyd On the Staff 1965
Miss J K Holden On the Staff 1965	Miss J L Smithson On the Staff 1965		Miss J Lang On the Staff 1965	Miss M Cornforth On the Staff 1965
Miss Marjorie Kinder On the Staff 1965	Miss P Battersby On the Staff 1965		Miss P Robertson On the Staff 1965	Miss S Taylor On the Staff 1965
Miss V Harwood On the Staff 1965	Mr A J Shepherd On the Staff 1965		Mr D L Nye On the Staff 1965	Mr G W Hills On the Staff 1965
Mr J M Darlington On the Staff 1965	Mr K Hodgson On the Staff 1965		Mr P J Weights On the Staff 1965	Mr P T Ferguson On the Staff 1965
Mr R H Smith On the Staff 1965	Mr S Collier On the Staff 1965		Mr V M Roberts On the Staff 1965	Mrs E M Whiteside On the Staff 1965
Mr L Richards Manager 1968 onwards	Mrs Judith Bamber On the Staff 1969
Title:		11-94-60 Preston Fishergate Still Open
Type:		Main Branch
Address:		38 Fishergate Preston Lancashire
Opening Hours:		Mon to Fri 1000-1500 Saturday 0900-1130
Telephone:		Preston 52166
Services:		Nightsafe Installed
Manager:		L Richards Manager
Title:		11-94-60 PRESTON LUNE STREET Open 1963-65
Type:		Temporary Branch
Address:		19 Lune Street Preston Lancashire
Opening Hours:		Mon to Fri 1000-1500 Saturday 0900-1130
Telephone:		Preston 52166
Services:		Nightsafe Installed
Manager:		Not Known
Title:		11-676 PRESTON CATTLE MARKET Closed 1940
Type:		Sub Branch to N11676 Preston
Address:		Cattle Market Preston Lancashire
Opening Hours:		Not Known
Telephone:		Not Known
Services:		Counter Service only
Manager:		Not Known
Title:		11-94-60 FRIARGATE & MARKET STREET Closed 23 Oct 1991
Type:		Sub branch to 11-94-60 Preston
Address:		Friargate, Market Street Preston Lancashire
Opening Hours:		Mon to Fri 1000-1500 Saturday 0900-1130
Telephone:		Preston 56287
Services:		Nightsafe Installed
Manager:		L Richards Manager (Preston)
Title:		11-94-60 MOOR PARK Still Open
Type:		Sub branch to 11-94-60 Preston
Address:		31 Garstang Road Preston Lancashire
Opening Hours:		Mon to Fri 1000-1500 Saturday 0900-1130
Telephone:		Preston 56912
Services:		Nightsafe Installed
Manager:		L Richards Manager (Preston)
Title:		11-94-60 PENWORTHAM Closed 1969
Type:		Sub branch to 11-94-60 Preston
Address:		38a Liverpool Road Penwortham Lancashire
Opening Hours:		Mon to Fri 1000-1500 Saturday 0900-1130
Telephone:		Preston Priory 83847
Services:		Nightsafe Installed
Manager:		L Richards Manager (Preston)
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