11-31-30 Manchester Deansgate

Its all just a little bit of history, repeating…

Manchester Deansgate is, without doubt, a fine-looking branch. It is inherited from the 1928 merger of the Bank of Liverpool and Martins with with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank. The building stands proudly astride Deansgate and John Dalton Street, and to all intents and purposes is right at the heart of things in Manchester.

As you will see from the images on this page, the branch is modernised in the mid-sixties and looks every bit the part in the story of the forward marching Bank. But on 15 December 1972, exactly three years to the day since the merger with Barclays, Deansgate is closed, surplus to requirements. History has almost repeated itself here, for in 1934, within a few years of Martins gaining fabulous premises in Manchester at Mosley Street, the axe falls and it is closed forever - Once again the reason is the sheer number of Manchester Branches, and the economics of manning and maintaining them. Martins Bank’s Managers are known for what nowadays seems to be an incredibly long working life.

In Service: 25 September 1896 until 15 December 1972

Branch Images © Barclays Ref 0030-1808

For our feature we look at the retirement at the end of 1968 of Mr Cutler, who had clocked up a staggering forty-three years with the Bank…

1969 01 MBM.jpg 1945 to 1969 (U) Mr E J Cutler Manager MBM-Sp69P55.jpg well over one hundred past and present members of the staff were entertained by Mr Cutler at the Manchester Club on November 29 to mark his retirement as Manager at Deansgate after 43 years' service. Mr N. E. Foster, Mr F. Tunstall and Mr G. S. Gallagher were among the guests, and the many retired colleagues and their wives included Mr and Mrs E. H. Priestley. The formal proceedings began with the presentation of a bouquet to Mrs Cutler by Mrs Sheila Kesler. Mr Brian Gosling of Deansgate branch then outlined Mr Cutler's career which began at the Lancashire & Yorkshire Bank, Spring Gardens, in 1925. After service in the Manchester area his first appointment, as Pro Manager at Portland Street, came in 1942. Three years later he became Manager at Deansgate. Secretary of the Bank Club's cricket section for twenty-one years, Mr Cutler took a keen interest in sport and last year was Manchester District golf captain, having won the Local Directors' Challenge Bowl on two occasions. Universally liked and respected, a kindly person with much humanity, Mr Cutler was presented with a cheque to which no fewer than 132 friends had subscribed. His response contained many amusing reminiscences. One of the most apt concerned his playing a full season's soccer with the Union Bank of Manchester (with a runner-up's medal to prove it) which meant his connection with Barclays ante-dated that of his colleagues by many years. He concluded by saying he would use the cheque to buy inter alia a pair of binoculars, an automatic slide projector and some golfing equipment.

Branch Images © Barclays Ref 0030/1808

Apart from the retirement feature for Mr Cutler, Deansgate receives no further attention or official visits from Martins Bank Magazine. There is nothing about the branch to be found in Four Centuries of Banking. This is a great shame, as we are sure that such a grand City Centre branch as Deansgate – often the main subject of postcards of Manchester City Centre – must surely have a tale or two to tell…

1949 Bustling: - Deansgate Branch is featured on a postcard.

(Dundee & London), and successors

ca.1966 Above and Below: Deansgate is tastefully modernised…

Images © Barclays Ref 0030-1808

Deansgate is one of those larger offices of Martins Bank to have been suited to a new life as a restaurant, and just as CITY OFFICE now serves food, Deansgate also “dishes up” to order these days. Alan Thomond has provided another of his carefully shot comtemporary photos, to enable us to make a good “then and now” comparison. The good news is that at some point in the last half century, the visibly drab effects of vehicle exhausts smog and bad weather has been scrubbed away to reveal a building that is still in fine fettle…

1966 Manchester Deansgate Exterior BGA Ref 30-1808

Image © Barclays Ref 0030-1808



*Mr C E Wright* *Joined the Bank Here* *1922*	*Mr E H Priestley* *Joined the Bank Here* *1924*	*Mr J Lee* *Joined the Bank Here* *1925 to 1925*	*Mr T Weetman* *On the Staff* *1925 to 1934*	*Mr F C Hardman* *On the Staff* *1934 to 1935*	*Mr W Richmond* *Manager* *1942 to 1945*



*Mr E J Cutler* *Manager* *1945 to 1969*	*Mr A E Plows* *Joined the Bank Here* *1951 to 1951*	*Mr C Thornton* *Pro Manager* *1952 to 1955*	*Mr S M Dearden* *Pro Manager* *1957 to 1961*	*Mr L J Johnson* *Limited Authority* *1962 to 1966*	*Mr P J Crankshaw* *Manager* *1969 to 1972*