11-66-30 Elland

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Elland opens in 1883 and is an original branch of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank, which merges with the Bank of Liverpool and Martins in 1928.

Evidence of Martins Bank and its history can still be found all over England and Wales, often through the ornate carvings of the crests or coats of arms of the various constituent banks, which have been left behind on buildings that have long since ceased to be banks.

This reminds us of the role they once played in the life of the local community. Elland remained open until July 2017 and the crest of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank is displayed proudly in the stonework above the door, more than 120 years after the branch first opened.

This building in Service: 27 September 1883 until Friday 7 July 2017

Image ca. 1940 © Barclays Ref 0030-0925

1922 Elland Branch Exterior as L & Y Bank PA.jpg

Together with its sub branches at Greetland and Stainland, Elland is visited in an article entitled “SPRING IN THE CALDER VALLEY WAS A LITTLE LATE THIS YEAR” published in 1966, by Martins Bank Magazine. They spend several days trekking across an area of West Yorkshire visiting a network of local branches that actually belongs to the Bank’s Manchester District. This is due not least to the complicated series of mergers and acquisitions that took place in the North of England resulting in Martins dominence there. We also feature on this page an article about the success of Miss J Holroyd of Elland Branch, who comes to prominence in the early sixties, when she swims for the Bank…

1966 02 MBM.jpg Elland was reached by a bumpy ride along Wakefield Road about which the Halifax District Council just don’t want to know. Darting to the right through the smoke over Elland Bridge where mills and factories crowd both banks of the Calder, one does some mountaineering by car to find an expanded old village of character which is now being torn asunder. This seems a pity even on a cold rainy day but it must rebuild to survive. Like Sowerby Bridge, it is overshadowed by Halifax only three miles away and blocks of flats are rising to house to working population.

1966 Elland Staff MBM-Su66P22.jpg

Need we say that Elland makes a healthy profit? The branch looks modern from the public space and oddly old-fashioned from behind – a crafty bit of cheating – otherwise it has changed little since 1873, and is soon to be rebuilt.

1922 Elland Branch Exterior as L & Y Bank PA.jpg

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections – Steve Gee

Mr S Wilson the Manager, has already vacated the Bank House and he retires at the end of June as does his twin Mr J A Eastwood. There is an air of unreality about Elland Branch drowsing opposite the pub at the end of Southgate yet it is busy enough coping each day with the modern manufacturing needs of textiles, engineering and fire extinguishers.

In the swim…

1961 04 and 1962 03 MBM.jpg {The Manchester Banks' Amateur Swimming Association held its seventh annual gala on September 18th at the Victoria Baths, Manchester, and for the fifth year in succession the 'Sir Eric Carpenter' cup was won by the Bank's team which was drawn from the Liverpool and Manchester Districts. Up to the last two races, Barclays Bank were leading Martins by five points but our team, by winning both the ladies' and the men's squadron races in fine style, won the trophy with 22 points and provided a very exciting finish to the gala.

In the Inter-Banks Events the following members of the team were successful: Butterfly – Third: Miss H. Holroyd. Free Style - Third: Miss H. Holroyd. In the Martins Bank Championships Miss H. Holroyd won the Ladies' Free Style Event.} {In the winter issue of the Magazine last year we drew attention to the activities of Miss Hazel Holroyd (Elland) who distinguished herself at the annual gala of the Manchester Banks' Amateur Swimming Association. We mentioned her performances in some of the long-distance swimming events, including the Morecambe Cross Bay Swim and the swim across Lake Bala.

1962 03.jpg Now it is our pleasant duty to congratulate her on winning the Morecambe Cross Bay ten-mile women's championship on June 17th. She was only six yards in front, thirteen seconds in terms of time, when she waded out to win the title and trophy from last year's winner and 25-mile bay champion, Miss Ruth Oldham, a 20-year-old London University student. Number three was ten minutes behind. Hazel's time for the crossing was 3 hours, 34 minutes, 47 seconds.

On July 7th she was one of the four women entrants for the Torbay swim, from Torquay to Brixham and back, a distance of about seven miles. There were also sixteen male entrants. The water was unusually cold for the time of the year and eight of the men and two women had to be taken out because of cold or exhaustion. Miss Holroyd completed the swim and was the winner in the Women's Section in the time of 5 hours 16 minutes.}

In a slight departure from our usual “then and now” format, we take a look at several images of the building that is Martins Bank’s Elland Branch, and a branch of Barclays until 2017. First of all as it was under the ownership of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank in 1922, then just a few years later in 1940 with Martins Bank at the helm, and finally the Branch as it was four years after the merger, as a Branch of Barclays in 1973. The lithograph image shown here (right) is one of a series of illustration of the branches of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank, that were printed in a commemorative book telling the story and the achievements of that Bank in the first fifty years of its existence.		Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections – W N Townson Collection

Images © Barclays Ref 0030-0925

BARCLAYS BANK LIMITED	LLOYDS BANK LIMITED	MARTINS BANK LIMITED

MIDLAND BANK LIMITED	NATIONAL PROVINCIAL BANK	YORKSHIRE BANK LIMITED



Mr H Barker Pro Manager 1923 to 1947	Mr G A Morley Joined the Bank here 1925	Mr E Robinson On the Staff 1927 to 1938	Mr E H Bennet Joined the Bank Here 1930 to 1939	Mr A C Alderson Staff 1937-42 1946-47 Pro Manager 1947-49	Mr G D Ingham Joined 1937 onwards Pro Manager 1968



Mr A L Taylor Signing Officer 1940 to 1946	Mr T Thornton On the staff 1940 to 1942	Mr W Simpson Manager 1945 to 1959	Mr G Kilner on the Staff 1951 to 1952	Mr G F Howarth Pro Manager 1953 to 1968	Mr S Wilson Manager 1959 to 1966



Miss Hazel Holroyd On the staff 1961	Miss C A Hall On the Staff 1966	Mr J Hollingworth On the Staff 1966	Miss C M Curtis On the Staff 1966	Mr Derek Parkin On the Staff 1966	Miss P L Booth On the Staff 1966



Mr J A Eastwood On the Staff 1966	Miss S M Turner On the Staff 1966	Miss S McVeagh On the Staff 1966	Mr I A M Bremner Manager 1966 onwards