Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections

In Service: 17 June 1963 until 20 February 1965

Image © WARD PHILIPSON PHOTO MEMORIES – John A Moreels M.B.E

In case you were in any doubt, these are TEMPORARY premises! It is September 1963, and Martins Bank has evacuated its premises at 20 Fawcett Street Sunderland, ahead of major refurbishment which could well – and does – take some time to complete.

Image © BT 1964

A functional shop frontage at 56 Fawcett Street is taken on a short lease to enable the Bank’s business to continue close to the old Branch, and relieve the pressure on other Martins Branches in the area. This photograph is one of a number taken for the Bank by professional photographers, and which today are held in the archive of Ward Philipson. Their online Archive, Photo Memories contains thousands of images of life in the North East from the not-so-distant past, and their lectures and lantern slide shows are a hit in town and village halls across the North East and Beyond. Martins Bank’s temporary Branch at 56 Fawcett Street in closed in February 1965, and everything and everyone moves back to 20 Fawcett Street to plush new surroundings that are even celebrated in the Bank’s Annual Report and Accounts for that year with a colour photograph of the new Banking Hall.