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WHY NOT ALSO VISIT THESE PAGES |
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Animals… |
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ELEPHANTS |
BEARS |
SMALL CATS |
BIG CATS |
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Entertainers and Rock Stars… |
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WILFRED & MABEL PICKLES |
KEN DODD |
KEN DODD (AGAIN) |
JIMI HENDRIX |
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Royalty, Sport, and a visit from the forces |
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PRINCESS ALEXANDRA |
SIR MATT BUSBY |
CASIUS CLAY |
A TANK – IN A BANK? |
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...and a US President? (–
Really?) |
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Yes,
really! In 1906 President Woodrow Wilson of the USA opened an account with
the Bank Of Liverpool’s Branch in AMBLESIDE, during a stay in the English Lake District, at Loughrigg
Cottage, Rydal. Here’s his specimen signature: |
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...and Peter Rabbit? |
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AMBLESIDE Branch was also the
chosen place of banking for much loved Author Beatrix Potter, whose frugal
lifestyle and dress, belied the fact that she was worth millions! |
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...and William Wordsworth? |
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You
can read the full story on our Branch page for GRASMERE, where there is also
a copy of a letter from the great poet asking for a loan of more than £1600
from Kendal Branch. |
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...and a politician? |
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When
Conservative politian Teresa Gorman wanted to start a medical equipment
business in the mid 1960s, she was laughed out of the door of the other Banks
when she needed a start-up loan. Martins Bank at STREATHAM saw the potential in
her ideas, and helped her on her way. Read more on our Streatham Branch Page. |
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You can bring an Elephant! |
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A
newspaper photographer, took many pictures at the zoo which was obviously
good publicity for us, and had done a series of Debbie with Emily in the zoo.
He asked, after seeing the bank advertisement if we could do this. He wanted
to do it unannounced to get the bank’s reaction. On the day he had two or
three other photographers on hand, in and outside the bank. We parked the land rover & trailer near
the bank and gathered attention from a traffic warden. At that point a neighbouring shop owner
came and offered his yard to park in. We
unloaded Emily and started to walk to the bank, when a security van pulled
up, so we retreated to the yard. After that we entered the bank, there was
little reaction from the bank staff. The newspaper had provided £2 for Debbie
to open the account; the cashier repeated, word for word, the phrase used in
the advert. “Who have you brought with you today”? We left the bank with no
fuss and loaded Emily into the trailer and then went in the shop who had
kindly let us park and had a nice glass of wine as the shop was a wine
merchants. (Debbie had a soft drink).
Although no irate manager came rushing out I presume the newspaper
smoothed any problem and it also cannot have harmed the Bank. Shortly after,
I took up a zoo management post in Canada}”. In November 2009 a group of performing
arts students decided to take Martins at their word, inspired by the events
of 1966 to re-create them. |
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Our thanks go to Colin Eccleston and his
fellow students who took over 4 Water St for a day to pay homage to the
original idea that Martins Staff are so helpful and laid back, that not even
an elephant would faze them. In these
five images, someone plays the part of a bemused bank messenger, and the
“elephant”, expertly realised by the student group, poses for the camera at
various points within the iconic banking hall at Head Office. |
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Bear
faced cheek… |
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Once upon a time, that most famous magician (and all round
good bear) Sooty, went to Martins Bank GUISELEY in the
faraway land of Craven, to cash his first cheque AND meet his first bank
manager, Mr Jack Hardcastle. Sooty’s companion, that nice Mr Corbett, kindly
gave him a hand up, so to speak, and try as we might we can’t spot Sooty’s
noisy friend Sweep, anywhere… |
Sooty’s twenty-first
birthday Image © David
Baxter 1969 |
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It seems, dear reader that Sooty’s attachment to Martins
Bank is indeed very strong, for here he is again with his friend Mr Corbett,
and his nice NEW Bank Manager at Guiseley - Mr Ken Baxter, on the occasion of
Sooty’s coming of age. Martins really DO
go to extremes to be helpful, especially to small bears! |
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Kitten
on the Keys… In 1949 this lovable moggy was often found waiting on the
steps of our branch at ALSTON,
Cumberland. When the doors were opened for business, the cat would slip into
the branch, make its way to the typewriter, in front of which it would seat
itself as shown. This fuzzy feline
friend would then tap on the space bar until the bell rang, and then look up
waiting for someone to return the carriage, so that the operation could be
repeated! Perhaps this is the first
case of the Manager’s Secretary wearing her fur coat all day… |
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Tiger,
Tiger, sitting tight…
Staff at CHESTER
LE STREET branch think nothing of their office
being visited by both tigress and Mr Walton.
When interviewed, he commented: “It
has long been a common thing for me to enter the Bank at Chester Le Street
accompanied by a lion or a leopard and none of the cashiers was alarmed if
either placed its paws on the counter while they checked cash” We bet you never knew that tigers, lions and leopards
could check cash, now did you? |
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With
Mabel, at the table… Cashing a cheque must be all the rage when you’re famous,
and at LONDON
WIGMORE STREET the BBC’s Wartime favourites Wilfred Pickles and his wife
Mabel ‘have a go’ too. There is no sign of Violet Carson on the piano, but
perhaps she is just out of shot. Whether or not Martins Bank Magazine uses photos such as
these to inspire pride amongst the staff that their Bank is home to the rich
and famous, isn’t clear. Decades on,
we are glad they were
printed, as they prove that ephemeral celebrity is not just a modern
phenomenon… |
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How
tickled they are, missus, what a beautiful day! 1960 - King Doddy of Knotty Ash wows them all with the
size of his cheque book at Martins Bank’s Branch in TORQUAY . Well used to
touring the land with his wonderful brand of humour and music, Doddy is an
instant favourite wherever he goes… “What
a beautiful day! What a beautiful day for sticking a cucumber through the
Vicar’s letterbox and shouting THE MARTIANS ARE COMING!” |
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On to 1964, and next stop for Doddy is the North West - where he once again opens a bank account
under the gaze of the cameras, this time at Lewis’s Bank in Blackpool. Both Martins and Lewis’s are used to
helping celebrities make the most of their money, and it sounds like Mr Doddy
could do with some common sense Martinplanning, several years before it is
actually invented… We wonder which department in Lewis’s Blackpool Store will
stock the famous “tickling sticks” with which our hero makes himself so
instantly welcome! |
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All along the watchtower… The psychedelic sixties leave their mark on Martins Bank,
when it falls to our LONDON
79 EDGWARE ROAD BRANCH to look after the affairs of one
Jimi Hendrix…… and a sure sign that the Bank is “with it” is this
flower-power cheque book cover. We
don’t know if these were issued with a pair of anti-glare specs, perhaps they
were only given out to those wearing the COOLEST sun shades.
Like, er, crazy man! Jimi also ran up
a crazy overdraft of - £572.2.6, which in 2016 was equivalent to around
£9,300.00. This “temporary
embarrassment” is alleviated when his account is credited £1,000 (worth
around £16,200 now!) The image of the Bank
Statement came from the Jimi Hendrix Collection before it changed hands, and we would really like to find and
acknowledge the current copyright holder. If you can help, please do get in
touch with us at the usual address gutinfo@btinternet.com
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1968 - Princess Alexandra, who becomes the first and the
longest serving Chancellor of LANCASTER
UNIVERSITY, admires Martins Bank’s new branch building there, which
is situated in the appropriately named Alexandra Square. This historic moment is the end of a very
long journey for Martins Bank and its ambitions to control a slice of the
student banking Market. A fortune
(still undisclosed) is pumped into the bid for Lancaster, and Martins wins a
place alongside local rivals the District Bank, who at that time are Bankers
to the new University of Lancaster itself. (Read more at STUDENT BANKING). |
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United
we Stand…
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It is not every day that you can pose for a photo with one
of the World’s most famous and loved sportsmen. It seems even less likely that a Bank
manager can achieve such a thing. Still
some years off from being known as Muhammed Ali, Casius Clay meets Mr D G
Harris, the manager of Martins Bank’s Branch at GOLDERS
GREEN , London. The
icing on the cake is that this occasion is the only function attended in
England in 1966 by Mr Clay, and is a reception and dinner given in his honour
by the Pakistani Community of London.
Stereotypes of the “typical” Bank Manager won’t help here either, as
Mr Harris looks as if HE might easily go a good few rounds at boxing,
himself… |
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Tanks for the publicity…
{The security precautions of Lewis’s Bank are
probably no better than those of any other bank, despite this picture which,
actually, was taken at the Bristol Branch during an Army recruiting week
which was held in the Lewis’s Store from September 20th to 29th. The
vehicle is an armoured scout car belonging to the Royal Horse Guards} |
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In popular culture… |
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Martins Bank itself is also in the limelight in one or two
areas of popular culture. It is
thought that Francis Durbridge, who created the detective Paul Temple, had
his hero bank at Martins when in more than one of the Radio Adaptations Mr
Temple referred to visits to “the Bank in SOUTH AUDLEY STREET
London. Another great detective lived just three
doors from the building that became Martins Bank 213 BAKER STREET
–
had the historical timing been better, it may well have been “elementary” for
him to have popped in for cash to feed a certain drugs habit! The best known
reference to Martins Bank in popular culture is in the original TV series and
the original film of the much loved Dad’s Army. The bank is mentioned several times by Mr
Mainwaring and Mr Wilson in the early episodes before the BBC decided that a
change of Bank name would “prevent confusion”. You can read what happened when Martins
Bank Magazine caught up with Mr Mainwaring and his staff on our WALMINGTON
ON SEA page… |
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