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 When Martins Bank’s Oxford Circus
Branch opens in 1948, athletes from all over the world are converging on
London for the Games of the XIV Olympiad, putting up with post war austere
accommodation and facilities a world away from the sophistication of those
supplied at the London 2012 Games.
In
1948, television is mostly confined to an area of about thirty miles’ radius
from north London, food and clothing are still rationed and the latest
banking technology is a hand operated adding machine.
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In Service: 28 June 1948 to 12 November 1984
Images © Martins Bank
Archive Collections: From “The
Victoria Line Report No 2 – Down and Along”
British
Transport Films, August 1963 Images © BFI National
Archive
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The
Bank’s newest London office, known officially as Oxford Circus Branch, opens
in this handsome building at 251 Regent Street. The images shown here were captured from
the British Transport Film unit’s “The Victoria Line Report Number 2 – Down
and Along”. They are shown on this page courtesy of our friends at the BFI NATIONAL ARCHIVE. The film
from which they are taken throws the spotlight on Oxford Circus during the
Bank Holiday Weekend of August 1963, when a special bridge was constructed to
allow traffic to continue to flow above, whilst just under the ground, work
on the new London Victoria Line and its stations could take place
unhindered. Martins’ Branch is next
door to the Westminster Bank, which occupies the prime “corner spot”. We have
just two short features for Oxford Circus, both from 1969 – a Duke of
Edinburgh Gold Award awaits a member of the Branch Staff, and the retirement
of a well-regarded colleague is due…
Your memories of this Branch are of course most welcome at the usual
address: martinsbankarchive@btinternet.com.
Gold Standard
  We
congratulate Kevin Pierson (Oxford Circus) on his attainment of the
Duke of Edinburgh gold award. The scheme consists
of four sections: service, expedition, pursuits and interests, and physical
fitness. Kevin's achievement involved a course in fire-fighting with the
local fire brigade, a four-day, fifty-mile cross-country expedition during
which he had to cook at least two meals a day, qualifying as a drummer in the
Boys Brigade band and helping to train new members of the band, plus a number
of physical fitness tests including athletics.
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Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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In addition he acted as camp cook for a
Boys Brigade contingent touring Europe and also helped out at Rochford
General hospital.
By hook, or by crook…
Well, he won’t
quite be LAST in the book, but
pretty close – Mr Wildman retires in May 1969, and is one of last members of
Martins Bank’s staff to have his retirement announced and covered by Martins
Bank Magazine, before the merger with Barclays. The story below appears in the final full
version of the Magazine, which is issued in Autumn 1969…
  Pro Manager at Oxford Circus for
the past fifteen and a half years, Mr G. A. Wildman retired at the end of May
after nearly 44 years' service. He first joined the Lancashire and Yorkshire
Bank in Burnley, his native town, but for most of his time he served in the
London District, with four years in H.M. Forces. His outside activities included the chairmanship of his
local cricket club, and he is master-elect of his masonic lodge. A large number of colleagues attended his retirement
party at the branch. Mrs Wildman, who received a bouquet from Miss P.
Spreadborough, was accompanied by their son and daughter. Mr D. E. Stevens
(Manager, Oxford Circus) presented a cheque to Mr Wildman, who said he would
buy a pair of binoculars and went on to delight the assembly with many
reminiscences of the lighter side of his banking career.
 Martins Staff member, and current
Secretary of the Grasshopper Pensioners’ Club, Dave Baldwin, took his trusty
camera to Oxford Circus for us, to capture the contemporary view of the
building that once housed the Westminster and Martins Banks. It is good to
see that not too much has changed in more than fifty years, and that this
part of the once “swinging” London is still a “dedicated follower of
fashion”…
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From “The Victoria Line Report Number 2 – Down and Along”
British Transport Films,
August 1963 Image © BFI
National Archive
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Image © Martins Bank Archive Collection –
Dave Baldwin 2014
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We are also grateful to our friends at Royal Bank of
Scotland Archives, for finding these two black and white images of Oxford
Circus Branch, for us. At our suggestion, they very kindly looked through
their collection of Westminster Bank Photos, from which it was possible to
extract to these two views of the neighbouring Martins Bank Branch.
The larger image was taken in 1956, the smaller in 1961.
It is clear that between these two dates Martins Bank has refurbished the
branch and added the signage to the windows of the branch – this can be
seen more clearly in the main colour image at the top of this page.
IMAGES REPRODUCED BY KIND PERMISSION
OF ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND ARCHIVES
© 1956 and 1961
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