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It’s a dirty job, but
someone has
to do it…
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank opens a branch at 822 Rochdale Road
in Manchester’s Queen’s Park area, some time before 1920. This exterior image of the Branch comes
from a book published by in 1922, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of
the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank. In 1952 the address of the Branch is
changed to 476 Rochdale Road, and currently we are going with the assumption
that properties in this road were renumbered, as they were in other parts of
Manchester around the same time.
Despite having the threat of demolition over its head for many years,
Queens Park Branch stays open under Barclays until 1981. Back in 1967,
Martins Bank Magazine goes on a tour of some of the Manchester branches –
branches which, let’s face it, have seen better days, or are situated in what
might be called “rough” areas, or both.
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In Service: from around 1920 to 23 January 1981
Image © Martins Bank
Archive Collections – W N Townson Bequest
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In what is a quite detailed article, they leave Queen’s Park branch
until last, and we like this particular part of the Magazine’s feature
because the accompanying picture is the only one printed that actually shows
the “make do and mend” spirit of these less fortunate outposts of Martins
Bank; a bonus, too, that it is also the only colour image!
  {Branches
with compulsory purchase orders hanging over them, were one reason for our
journey to Manchester, the other and better reason being that people who have
never seen and perhaps never will see some of these offices tend to shudder
at the thought of them and we wanted to find out if they were truly
shudder-worthy…} {Lest anybody is
wondering why we left Queen’s Park branch to the end the explanation is that
it is so typical of all the branches that it seemed best to portray it in
colour for it, too, makes the most of what it has got —modern floor tiles to match the old wall tiles, the
solidity and austerity of the old type managerial sanctum offset by a
friendly interior, the iron railings to discourage disrespect and, in the
background, the seemingly inevitable row of ‘dwellings’ In the foreground, the staff. Strange perhaps that in all this we have
not mentioned a single member of any branch staff by name. If you want to
know why come over into the corner where nobody will hear. Suppose you
worked in some godforsaken area where you felt you wanted to wash your hands
every time you handled notes or have a bath the minute you got off the bus.
Or, if you were the manager, wished you could fumigate the room after some of
the interviews which may be religious, racial, marital or even
financial. Suppose that you did all
these things every working day and shifted a pile of work and put up with a
lot of discomfort and difficulties and somebody came along and saw these
things and wrote a paeon of praise and said ‘Jolly good show!’ You’d feel
downright embarrassed, wouldn’t you ?}
Goodbye Mr Moss…
  At a happy party at the local Conservative Club on
30 January, Gilbert Moss said goodbye to his colleagues at Queen’s Park,
where he has spent twenty-eight of his forty-three years’ service. The remainder was divided between branches
in the Manchester District and four years with H. M. Forces. Over forty past and present staff met to
wish him and Mrs Moss a long and happy retirement and to present him with a
ciné
projector, and Mrs Moss with a bouquet.
Mr R Ashburn (Manager) paid tribute to Mr Moss’s ability, and to his
unflagging enthusiasm and helpfulness throughout his many years at the one
branch.
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