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The Bank of Liverpool
and Martins opens a sub branch to Hetton le Hole at Thornley in 1920, and so
begins an association with the local area of some forty years plus until
Thornley closes at the time of the Barclays merger. It’s not only the newer 1960s branches that
face the axe in 1969, some of the older established ones are considered to
have reached the end of the line too. This office has been closed
before, for the duration of the Second World War, when there were not enough
staff to be able to man all of the small outposts of the Bank. By the time of the merger with Barclays,
Thornley is open for just three and a half hours each week. Simple economics
tells us that this cannot be sustained.
It is however sad, that another office representing the Bank in a
small community, has to go. The irony of the
twenty-first century is that where once a village bank catered for the needs
of businesses and private customers alike, “convenience stores” (and those
words are always used cynically) allow us any number of cash machines in
these places. With many shops charging
hefty withdrawal fees of up to 20%, it is doubtful that these services are
“convenient” for anyone other than those that operate them… |
In Service: 1920 until 12 December 1969 Image
© Barclays Ref 0033-0550 |
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