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“THE POPULAR LONDON GRILL” at 10  Silver
Street Kettering, is about to become significantly less popular. It’s the
Summer of Love, and also the decade of new buildings being allowed to be
“different”. As we have seen elsewhere
in Martins’ Branch Portfolio, difference for the sake of it really is a very bad idea – see BEXLEY, HARTLEPOOL
YORK ROAD and WELLING, for proof positive of this awful trend. However, what is built on the site of the
London Grill in Kettering is by comparison, quite palatable. Martins Bank’s new and state of the art
Branch is built not only close to the time of the Merger announcement, but
also next door the Bank’s rivals – Barclays!
Once the transformation is complete, the new branch is
opened by holding a cocktail party inside the building on the evening of
Thursday 21 September, 1967. We were
delighted when Mary Robinson, who worked on the Staff at Kettering, contacted
us having unearthed a copy of the official invitation to the branch opening. Mary told us:
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In Service: 21 September
1967 until 12 December 1969
Branch Images © Barclays
Ref 30/1474
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“I worked at Kettering Branch, until the
merger with Barclays Bank – “merger” was literal in Kettering’s case, as
the Barclays Branch was next door! A hole was knocked through on the ground
floor to make more room. This could
not be done on the other floors of the building, as they were not on the
same level. Eventually the two buildings were redesigned and a larger
Branch was made”.
This may in fact be the only case of a physical merger
between branches following the actual merger of the two Banks in 1969! Under Martins, Kettering is a self
accounting sub Branch to Northampton, and we were therefore surprised to
find that the official opening receives only a very short mention in
Martins Bank Magazine – just the image below, and very few words:
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Image ©
Martins Bank Archive Collections - Mary Robinson
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At the opening of Kettering Branch: from
the left: F Thomspon (Midland Assistant Premises Manager), R M Whitlock
(Manager, Northampton), C M
Parkinson (Midland Assistant District Manager), and R H Naylor (Clerk in
Charge).
Kettering is one of Martins Bank’s last major
construction projects before the Merger with Barclays takes place. A number
of photographs were taken of the new building, both inside and out, from
which we can bring you this selection:
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Branch
Images © Barclays Ref 0030-1474
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