11-57-20 Castleford

By 1920, The Bank of Liverpool and Martins - now fully embarked on its quest to become a truly national presence - is looking for banks with which it can amalgamate, preferrably those that have large numbers of branches and that are based in major towns and cities. In Yorkshire, it is a little late for them to be able to take their pick, as many of the desirable banks there, have already been swallowed by others. The Halifax Commercial Bank is not, on the face of it what the Bank of Liverpool and Martins has been looking for, but the Halifax has opened a number of branches in key areas in (and beyond) Halifax which will provide useful outlets for the Bank of Liverpool and Martins. Castleford is opened in 1901, and this atmospheric image of the branch, although taken in 1954 looks like time has stood still since at least 1920.

In Service: 1901 until 10 November 1972

1954 Castleford Exterior BGA Ref 30-573

Image © Barclays Ref 0030-0573

Our features below concern the retirement in 1960 of Mr A H Sutcliffe, and, from Martins Bank Magazine’s 1966 tour of the Calder Valley, Castleford is amongst those Branches in Martins’ Leeds District to be paid a somewhat fleeting visit…

1960 04 MBM.jpg 1948 to 1960 Mr A H Sutcliffe Manager MBM-Wi60P52 On the occasion of the retirement of Mr A H Sutcliffe after forty-four years’ service he entertained the members of his staff to dinner at a local hotel. Before the dinner there was a short function at which Mr D B W Edwards, a member of the staff at Castleford, made the presentation to Mr and Mrs Sutcliffe on behalf of past and present colleagues of a clock and some sherry glasses. Subsequent to his retirement, Mr Sutcliffe was enetertained in Leeds by the District General Management. He Entered the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank in 1916 and from 1923 to 1938 he was at Sowerby Bridge. In 1938 he was appointed Manager at Wakefield and his appointment as Manager at Castleford came ten years later.

1966 02 MBM.jpg The dark enclosure into which we were ushered by Mr Douglas was not the waiting room as we had imagined, but the Manager’s room. The door we had wrongly thought would lead on to that sanctum revealed a broom cupboard. Outside these claustrophobic confines, we met three delightful girls in pale blue pinafores, who, with the other two men on the staff, manage to cope in surroundings which defy description and about which it would be most unfair to write in detail because, we were assured, “something is being done about it”.

1930 Castleford Crossing Stamp.jpg Since 1901 there has been a business in Castleford which is still primarily a one street coal town, but the shops are snapped up by the multiples the minute they become vacant, there is plenty of money about, and a car left standing for an hour acquires a coat of solid grime. All the roads around are liable to subsidence and just north of the town the Calder ends when it joins the River Aire. After lunch with Mr Douglas, a cricketer of note and now an ardent league fan, we took a final look at the area.



Mr C Robinson Joined the Bank Here 1916 to 1923	Mr R B Barrett Manager 1923 to 1935	Mr D Feather On the Staff 1931 to 1934	Mr J Tyne Manager 1935 to 1948	Mr A L Paylor On the Staff 1946 to 1947	Mr E N Ranson On the Staff 1946 to ?



Mr A H Sutcliffe Manager 1948 to 1960	Mr G Sharpe On the Staff 1950 to 1951	Mr D M Douglas Manager 1960 to 1969	Miss C A Goddard On the Staff 1966	Mr J N Mackman On the Staff 1966	Miss J E Speed On the Staff 1966



Mr J T Little On the Staff 1966	Miss R H Bennett On the Staff 1966	Mr J W Tunnicliffe Manager 1969 onwards