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Another
Year Gone…
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  WELCOME to Martins Bank
Archive, and to MARTINS
BANK MAGAZINE -
our news feature in honour of the Bank’s staff publication, which from 1946
to 1969 brought news of changing times, new Branches and services and even
new technologies to those working in branches and departments in England
Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. From Drive-In Branches to
computers and the Cash Dispenser, it seems that Martins Bank has it all,
yet on 1 November 1968, it becomes just one more of the Barclays Group of
Companies. This status is maintained only until close of Business on Friday
12 December 1969, as from the following Monday, 730 branches of the bank
will open their doors under the name of Barclays.
As another year races past
our eyes, we end 2023 with a front page that reflects Christmas, and in
particular the staff of Martins Bank letting down their hair. The top left
and bottom right images show the staff of LIVERPOOL AINTREE in Winter 1963 (Our thanks
to John Quirk). The top middle, top
right and bottom left images take us to the staff christmas party at WALLSEND on 23 December 1966 (Our thanks to Dave
Watson). We have the interior of Lewis’s Bank Hanley from around 1934, and
Father Christmas warns us of his arrival there – as each branch of Lewis’s
had a Children’s Counter, it must have been bedlam when those particular
young savers called to take out their money and race round to santa’s
grotto and the toy department in the main store! Finally the front cover of
Martins Bank Magazine makes two appearances – the coat of arms shows the
Grasshopper holding a sprig of holly in 1966, and a year earlier, Father
Christmas rocks up outside what is still an un-named branch. However, or indeed whether or not you
celebrate this time of year, we’d like to wish all of our contributors and
visitors right round the World the compliments of the season, and peace and
happiness in 2024.
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Branch Closures – 2023/4
The High Street Banks are
continuing to deplete their High Street presence at an alarming rate.
Several affecting Martins Bank Branches have already taken place in 2023,
and you can keep fully up to date
with developments, and see the full list of Martins Branch closures since
April 2007 by visiting our BRANCH
WATCH pages. The remaining branches dwindled
by the end of August 2023 to just twenty-three, and these can be viewed
along with their history and the option to visit the feature page for each
one, by visiting THE REMAINING BRANCHES. One further closure for 2023 - WHITLEY BAY Branch – closed on 1
December. The first of the 2024 batch was announced at the end of November
– WALLASEY
LISCARD closes on 24 March 2024. We will keep you posted here, and on our FACEBOOK® page.
Keeping a permanent
record…
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Image © Barclays Ref
0030-1693
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Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
– ROBERT MONTGOMERY
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An unexpected result of the closure of former Martins Bank Branches
in recent years, has been the sight of the Bank’s original signage still
etched – sometimes faintly, others clear as day – in the stonework above
the door or window of a branch.
Friend of Martins Bank Archive, Robert Montgomery, has since 2009
been on a mission to photograph former branches of the big banks, that have
fallen on their sword in the name of progress. In the process he has accumulated many
images of former Martins Branches. We look forward to being able to add
these to our Branch Network pages over the coming months, but as a taster,
we are showing here a side-by-side comparison of LIVERPOOL WOOLTON Branch.
On the left you see the branch in the 1960s, and on the right,
looking almost as if time has stood still for sixty years, you can see how
the branch looked a couple of days after it was closed in June of this
year.
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Liverpool Childwall Five Ways – Closed
02/10/2015
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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GARY OWENS
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Liverpool Booker Avenue – Closed 19/02/2016
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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GARY OWENS
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South Shields Harton – Closed 10/05/2019
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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ROBIN LAWSON
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Buyer Beware…
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We have left the following article here once again for reference, to
help explain the position regarding the theft of copyrighted images for the
purposes of re-sale. There is a common misconception that if
you can Google an image, then it is “in the public domain” and you can do
what you want with it. Even some staff at eBay® believed this until they
were recently put right – if you
take or copy someone else’s work or property without their permission or
acknowledgement, and sell it on to
make even a penny out of it, this is breach of copyright, and the real
owner can take legal recourse to stop further theft and misuse of their
property. There are currently on eBay® a number of
listings of photographs for sale, showing scenes from the past and old
buildings including these four (and many more) Branches of Martins
Bank. These images originated on our
web site. As you can see, under our
agreement with the owner, we prominently display copyright. These images
have been copied and printed onto cheap photographic paper. The seller even
has the gall to add their own watermark to the displayed images to prevent
others from stealing them!!!
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STAINLAND
Image © Barclays
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SITTINGBOURNE
Image created by Martins Bank
Archive and © Barclays
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BURTON UPON TRENT
Image © Barclays
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WALLASEY
Image © Barclays
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As well as being against
copyright law, these items are worthless, having little more than
sentimental value – you will often find that collections and archives will
make images available free of charge for private use, but you MUST check
with them first. You should always check the seller’s right to copy the
image – reputable sites such as eBay® do now allow you to report copyright
infringement. For ANY item of memorabilia, the best thing to do is shop
around and compare prices – in the case of Martins Bank there are often
more than two hundred different items for sale on eBay® alone on any given
day. For printed material which
looks as if it has been copied, or actually claims to be a copy, ALWAYS
question the seller about copyright.
Best Regards, Jonathan.
Westmorland, Thursday 30TH November 2023
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WHILST MARTINS BANK
ARCHIVE HAS NO CONNECTION WITH THE DAY-TO-DAY TRADING ACTIVITIES OF THE
BARCLAYS GROUP OF COMPANIES,
WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE CONTINUED GENEROUS GUIDANCE, ADVICE
AND SUPPORT OF BARCLAYS
GROUP ARCHIVES IN THE BUILDING AND SHAPING OF THIS ONLINE SOCIAL HISTORY.
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