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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.

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.

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Keeping a permanent record…

Image © Barclays Ref 0030-1693

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections

– ROBERT MONTGOMERY

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.

Liverpool Childwall Five Ways – Closed 02/10/2015

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections

 - GARY OWENS

Liverpool Booker Avenue – Closed 19/02/2016

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections

 - GARY OWENS

South Shields Harton – Closed 10/05/2019

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections

 - ROBIN LAWSON

Buyer Beware…

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!!!

STAINLAND

Image © Barclays

SITTINGBOURNE

Image created by Martins Bank

Archive and © Barclays

BURTON UPON TRENT

Image © Barclays

WALLASEY

Image © Barclays

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.

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Best Regards, Jonathan.

Westmorland, Thursday 30TH November 2023

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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