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“Goings on” in “Sleepy Town”… Another of Martins’
picturesque little branches that looks almost as if a child has carefully
constructed it from LEGO® bricks,
Farningham is a self
accounting sub branch to Swanley.
This means it enjoys full banking hours and a Clerk in Charge who acts
“per pro” the Manager.
The
address is
quoted in the telephone directories from the 1930s simply as “next door to
parish church”. The branch is opened
by the Bank of Liverpool and Martins at the beginning of 1922. Below we can
see the view along the counter back to the main door, through which we can
just glimpse a little bit more of Farningham itself. |
In Service:
January 1922 until Friday 1 September 2017
Image
© Barclays Ref 0030/0976 |
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At least the Branch is not
so isolated as a first look at its exterior
photographs might suggest! Sadly, bandit screens had to be fitted in 1964. An audacious raid on this little sub-branch
- like something from a film - came complete with a stolen limousine, a
countess, a kidnapped dog, the threat of a gun, a baby doll and the theft of
£2,750 ! (That is equivalent to more than £61,000 in 2022). Caught unawares,
was a 24 year old cashier, and his elderley guard, as the branch reached
closing time - 12.30pm - on Wednesday 2 September 1964. The national
newspapers obviously relished the story (see below) and the raid was also
covered by Independent Television News…
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