|
 The cheque clearing system has,
until very recently been one of the most important functions of British
banking. Only now, in the second
decade of the Twenty-First Century, are we comtemplating the death of the
cheque and the total adoption of the electronic payment – something that
Martins both envisaged, and was the first bank in the UK to experiment with as long ago as
1959. In 1941, maintaining the cheque
clearing cycle is vitally important to the war effort, and so moving the
central clearing processes out of London and to a place of relative safety is
achieved with the use of the dance hall at Trentham Gardens in
Staffordshire. By the Summer of 1946,
everything has been moved back to London, and Martins Bank Magazine takes the
opportunity to mark the passing of a remarkable Wartime collaberation between
all of the Clearing Banks…
The Central Clearing House
 On Saturday,
July 20th, the war-time Central Clearing House closed down. One can describe
this remarkable wartime arrangement from various angles. There are those who
are most impressed by facts and figures. Others are more interested in the
human aspect of this gigantic move which involved the transfer of close on a
thousand employees from the heart of the capital to a dance hall in Trentham
Gardens, three miles from Stoke-on-Trent in the Potteries, whose "Five
Towns" Arnold Bennett immortalised in his famous novels. A week before war broke out three special trains
transported staff and equipment to Stoke.
 The
first problem to be tackled was the billeting, feeding and welfare of the
staff while at the same time preparing to open for business less than
forty-eight hours after arrival. More than 600
machines were needed to deal with the daily load of over a million
cheques. As the London staff was
gradually replaced by the local girls who shortly began to join the Clearing
House staff, speed competitions were instituted to establish standards, and
it was proved that operators of less than one year's service could accurately
list from 1,000 to 2,100 cheques an hour.
Highly skilled operators of more than
two years' service reached 3,000 to 3,650 per hour. A postal department was set up to handle the daily
dispatch of about 7,000 envelopes and packages. Special precautions had to be
taken to deal with the situation arising from the possible destruction by air
bombing of mail bags containing cheques, and micro-photo apparatus was
installed which recorded every cheque, so that when losses took place
duplicates could be prepared.
 The
average number of staff employed on our section was thirty-two. On our record
day we handled 82,000 articles, the staff being sent home to their billets
that night by car between 11 and 11-30 p.m., all buses having stopped
running. Most of the girls were
very young and had never left home before, so in addition to supervising them
during working hours, it fell to the lot of Mr. Stephens, the Head Clearer,
and to Mr. Day, to act as father to a number of them. A glance at the " Outcast
Observer," inaugurated in February, 1940, to chronicle the doings of
and to entertain the thousand outcasts from the City of London who, by the
exigency of war, found themselves in strange surroundings to carry on a vital
national service, will reveal the extent to which the social life of the
Clearing House was organised.
Badminton, bowls, golf, darts, netball, hockey,
table tennis, tennis, a social club, a dramatic society, dances, motor-coach
tours—all were arranged in that true community spirit of which one
often reads but so seldom sees. The names of
Martins' girls figure in all activities.
Joan Evans was the first secretary of the netball section of the
Sports Club. Edna Cadman was captain of the winning
team this year, which also included Joan Trickett,
Margaret Trickett, Muriel Smart and Margaret Bullock. Martins Bank held the
interbank netball cup in 1939-1940. Margaret Bullock and Pat Freeman played
in the hockey team.
And so the gathering which took place a
day or two before the move back,  though happy, was tinged with regret, for not all of the splendid team of
girls who have made up the foster family of Mr. Stephens and Mr. Day was returning to London. Some of the local girls were leaving to
follow their interrupted careers in the
pottery industry. An inch of rain was
falling on the five towns as Martins' section sat down to a farewell tea
which reminded us all of the far-off happy
days of peace.
Mr. Stephens presided and among those
present were : Mr. G. O.
Papworth, Assistant General Manager; Mr. W. H. T. Laidlaw, Chief Accountant;
Mr. Bennett, Controller of the Clearing House; and
Mr. Chatham, Inspector of the Clearing House.
After tea a pleasant surprise was provided
by the presentation of souvenir gifts of
Wedgwood pottery to Mr. Stephens and a lighter to Mr.Day, and by gifts of flowers
totheir wives. Speeches were madeby Lilian Evans, Beryl Foxalland Edna Cadman
and all boreample testimony to the affectionin which all the girls had
heldtheir foster parents. After the
recipients of the gifts had replied Mr. Papworth expressed the appreciation
of the bank for thework done by the staff at Stoke. A very fine job indeed !
 M
|
