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In Service: Wednesday 16 March
1938 until Friday 8 June 2018
Branch Images © Barclays Ref 0030/2808 |
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No one could tell us very
much about Stourport-on-Severn except that it was four miles from Kidderminster, had a
population of 14,340 and that early closing day was Wednesday. This gave
us an excellent excuse for going to pay our staff there a visit. The branch in
the High Street was built in 1938 and bears a remarkable resemblance (externally, of course) to a Liverpool hostelry. With a quick glance up at the sign to make sure this was the right place we
went inside, stifling a whim to
order 'an old and mild'. Our manager, Mr James Alexander, regards his part
of Worcestershire as 'the grandest
part of England— next
to the Lake District', but as a native of Barrow his qualifying
remark is understandable. To prove his point he took us
on a lightning tour of Stourport's front garden: through the picturesque river port
of Bewdley with its church slap in
the middle of the High Street, then
into the countryside, following the Severn back towards Stourport. Everywhere in this landscape there are trees.
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And even in the bleakness of January there was colour: a vivid red beech hedge, stone
houses and churches glowing pink in the weak winter sun, the purple and brown of leafless trees. This
is the England of the Country Life picture books—if you can ignore
the six huge power station chimneys
which tower above Stourport. 'We were quite
shattered when we came to take our first
look at Stourport,' Mr Alexander said, 'but we soon found that first impressions can be very misleading. Stourport is a mixture of everything, a
point where the industrial Midlands
meets rural Worcestershire'. We drove back into the town over the iron arched
bridge, built nearly one hundred years ago and still adequate to cope with today's traffic. |
Stourport Staff and their Mexican
breadfruit (see below) James Alexander (Manager), Wendy Pearson, Chris Dash, Delia Hunt
and Stuart Thackaberry
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He pointed out the fine new buildings of the Civic Centre and the
Workmen's Club. Next door to the branch we found irrefutable evidence of the
town's prosperity—a site is being developed
for Woolworth's. Coming from Barrow-in-Furness twenty years ago Mr Alexander went first to Walsall then to
Burton upon Trent and Derby before
arriving in Stourport in 1965. Here he has found many interests and
has taken the town to his heart. He is
vice-president of the Chamber of Trade and is a founder member and treasurer
of the Civic Society.
Another man who likes to get around is Chris Dash. A west-countryman from Bath,
he joined the Bank at Hoylake in the Wirral in 1956 and then for a time was at Liverpool Overseas. His career
continued through the Midland District to his native South West and for eighteen months he was with
the mobile branches Cricket and hockey are his main off-duty interests and he is a captain in the Royal
Army Pay Corps Reserve. While not letting the grass grow under his feet he nevertheless regards Stourport
as a happy stopping-off place. Wendy Pearson, who spends her time between the counter and her mighty machine, came to the
branch in 1963 by way of Wednesbury
and Kidderminster. She and her
husband are members of the Stourport Boat Club where she is cox for the ladies crew. Fencing is another of her
leisure activities, but in more peaceful mood she is currently attending pottery classes, her ambition being to make a set of dinner plates.
Stuart Thackaberry comes from Gloucester and joined the staff here as
trainee in 1966. He has graduated to the counter but insists that his main duty is
to keep Chris Dash's
car on the road. Motoring and tinkering with cars is his main pursuit but he is also something of an authority on
jazz and folk music. Behind a pile of remittances we found Delia Hunt who has been with us for eighteen months and is,
inevitably, Stourport's
maid-of-all-work. Delia lives at Bewdley
and her interest is riding. Before
we left we had to find out the name of the intriguing plant in the banking hall: it is a Mexican breadfruit which grew almost from floor to
ceiling before obligingly veering
off to the left and thus avoiding
horticultural and architectural complications. That evening the branch had arranged their belated Christmas party and we hoped our visit hadn't
held them back too much.
Nevertheless we were sure that they
were going to enjoy themselves. |
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