11-222 Askam in Furness

OUR SITE USES FRAMES TO ACHIEVE A NOSTALGIC LOOK – IF YOU CANNOT SEE A MENU TO THE LEFT OF THIS PAGE, PLEASE CLICK ON THE ‘HOME’ BUTTON ABOVE

The Furness Peninsula is where Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland line up almost side-by-side. It is home to a large number of Martins Bank’s Branches and sub-Branches. Just north of Dalton, and directly across the sea from Millom is Askam in Furness, which nowadays is joined with nearby Ireleth into one community. This sub-Branch to Barrow was also known as Kirkby Ireleth. The area was once rich in iron ore, and very distinct traces of this can be seen in the rocks and cliffs and on beaches all over this area, particularly at Roanhead. Martins Bank’s sub-Branch at Askam exists for some sixty-two years having first been opened in Duddon Road by the Bank of Liverpool in 1894.

In Service: 1894 until 1956

Image © Barclays 1929

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections

With yet more sub branches in the area at Kirkby in Furness and Lindal in Furness, it is inevitable that Martins Bank has a case of “overcrowding”, and gradually these smaller outposts of the Bank are removed. That said, the position in 1969 gives a far more general spread of local branches than we see today from other banks – but in the twenty-first century there is mobility for just about everyone and of course the internet; further back there was just COMMUNITY, a far more precious commodity perhaps, than any information superhighway…