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 Martins Bank’s presence in Brighton begins at 163
North Street, in a shared section of
the Royal Insurance Building, which nowadays is one of Brighton’s Grade II
listed buildings. Part of that listed status
is the Liver Bird Weather Vane, which is added to the building when Martins Bank opens there for business on 21
April 1936.
The Bank continues to transact business here for the
next twenty-one years, but by the mid 1950s, larger premises are needed, and
the bank is minded to move not only to large premises, but also to a building
that is significantly closer to the town centre.
The new Branch is located in
new “The Lanes” shopping area, at No 26 NORTH STREET, and from 1957 the Bank is there, first as Martins
then Barclays, for twenty-six years. We are indebted to friend of the Archive
and former Martins Colleague Dave Baldwin, for taking his camera to various
parts of the country for us, to provide us with “then and now” images of our
Branches.
In the case of 163 North
Street, where no original shots of Martins are available, it is really
helpful to have at least a modern-day view of the building. This picture was taken in January 2014, and
further down the page, you can see a close up of the Liver Bird Weather
Vane.
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In Service: 21 April 1936
until 5 March 1957
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections - Dave Baldwin
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 In his booklet “Martins Bank Branch in Sussex”, (1983)
former Martins and Barclays colleague Alan Hill, pictured here, looks at
the once thriving business of the Bank along the South Coast of England,
and tells us too, a little of how the story of Martins Bank in Brighton
began…
 {Brighton was the first
Branch to be opened on the South Coast with Thomas Beecham opening the
office on 21st April 1936 at 163 North Street, Brighton, in part of the
Royal Insurance building next to the Chapel Royal. The site can still be identified by its
Liver Bird weather vane and is now occupied by the Leeds Permanent Building
Society. Mr Beecham remained Manager
until 1947 when he retired. Then a
Mr Sandiford from Liverpool moved in, but only spent a very short time at
the Branch when a domestic tragedy caused him to return to the north. In the spring of 1949 Mr S E Pearman
returned to the South Coast, moving down from Croydon Branch (having
previously opened Bexhill-on-Sea Branch in 1939)}.
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Image
© Barclays 1936
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Mr Beecham looks after Brighton until
he is forced to retire through ill-health on 24 June 1947. This is after
thirty-seven years’ service, something that today would be seen as a
remarkable amount of ime to spend working for the same company – the
definition of “a job for life”.
Martins Bank Magazine is as usual, on hand at the retirement
celebrations…
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  On
June 24th, members of the staff of Hove and Bexhill branches joined those
at Brighton to say farewell to Mr. T. H. Beecham, who was retiring for
health reasons after 37 years' service. The
presentation of a cheque was made by Mr. A. L. Lucock, Manager of Hove
branch, on behalf of the subscribers ; and an autograph album containing
their signatures was also presented.
Mr. Beecham entered the service in 1910 at
Sidcup, going to Bexley Heath later the same year. He served in the Great
War from 1914 to 1918, going to Crayford on demobilisation. He was
transferred to Welling in 1921. He was appointed Manager at Bexley Heath in
1929 and of Brighton branch in 1936. Mr.
Beecham is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers and Vice-President of the
Brighton local branch. He is also Hon. Treasurer of the Brighton and Hove
branch of the United Nations Association, and is a member of the Committee
of the Chamber of Commerce and Trade, and of the Western Brighton Traders'
Association.
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Getting
the bird?
Could it be that this is actually meant to be the Liver
Bird, still acting as an iconic ambassador of the Bank, sitting proudly
atop the weather vane at 163 North Street?
Marvellous as it would be to have this proud symbol of the Bank and
of the City of Liverpool on show so far South, we are not completely
convinced. It makes you wonder what debate there might have been when this
sculpture was first planned. Trying
to incorporate the full
coat of arms of Martins Bank, with the Grasshopper above the Liver Bird
would probably have looked confusing and ungainly. Many weather vanes are of course known as
weather “cocks” because of their use of a cockerel sculpture, so perhaps
that common example might just seal the debate once and for all…
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