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  WELCOME to our Most Wanted page.
This is where we need YOUR help, to locate or at least to find out
what happened to some important Martins Bank items that haven’t been seen for
a long time. So, if you fancy turning detective, have a look at the items on
this page to see if you can help. If you can help, please contact us at the
usual address martinsbankarchive@btinternet.com. We want as many people as possible to be able to access
Martins Bank Archive. Whether it’s a query
from former staff about somewhere they worked, or those of you wanting to see
a particular picture or maybe you have one to share with us, please do
contact us. We run regular features and share news about the items in the
Archive on our Facebook® page, which is also the
place to add your own comments, get in touch with former colleagues,
etc..
The items detailed here on this page represent our
“most wanted” images and artifacts. If
you can help by providing a scan or photo, or if you know the whereabouts of
a particular item, please get in touch
by clicking on contact us at the bottom of this page. Any items donated or lent to Martins Bank
Archive are catalogued and stored in a cool environment in appropriate
protective storage containers. (Items on loan to us can be requested back
from us at any time.) Otherwise we
will be delighted to receive photos and scans (if possible between 600 and
900 dpi please). Time and again, we have found that photos scanned at 600dpi
or higher will yield information that is not normally visible to the naked
eye. It enables us to zoom in on
particular aspects of a picture, and to show an item at its best. Although all our images are protected from
theft by distorting if enlarged, the results as seen on this site speak for
themselves.
FOUND! Counter plaques…
 Almost ten years after first trying to find the iconic
Martins Bank Counter Plaques, we have at last located two of them (see BELOW). They are both now safely in the archive. It was a case
of playing the long game with eBay, knowing that eventually, someone,
somewhere, would come up with the goods(!) The final plaque in the series –
which advertises Executor and Trustee Service – will, we are sure, be out there somewhere waiting
to be reunited with the other two… In the meantime a donation has secured a
variation on the counter plaque for travellers’ cheques, which can be seen
here on the right.
 
Where is the Grasshopper?
 This is
Chislehurst Water Tower Branch, a fantastic looking building, and one ideally
suited to displaying the Golden Grasshopper of the south in all its
glory. We have been contacted on
several occasions about the fate of this lovely metal sculpture, and it does
seem to have simply vanished following the merger with Barclays in 1969. Many of the artworks commissioned by the
bank have been turning up in dusty garages and lofts over the years, but it
is a VERY rare occasion on which a Grasshopper is revealed.
We were contacted in
September 2017 by the Chislehurst Society’s History Group who are researching
parts of the town’s history, and amongst the items on their list is to
establish either the whereabouts, or indeed what happened to the Grasshopper. If you can help, please please do get in touch with us at the usual address – martinsbankarchive@btinternet.com.
Tapestry
and Mystery…
 We were contacted in June 2012 by Kevan Shaw, whose father made this wonderful
tapestry for display in London Tottenham Court Road Branch in the
mid-1950s. Kevan was hoping to find
the tapestry for a forthcoming exhibition, but our colleagues at Barclays
have not been able to trace what happened to it. Although Tottenham Court Road Branch
survives the 1969 merger, it is closed by Barclays 1990, and the building is
now a pub. Have you seen this tapestry
somewhere, or is it perhaps in your possession? If you can help use trace what happened to
it, please do get in touch at the usual address – martinsbankarchive@btinternet.com. Since first posting this story
of the tapestry, it has emerged that it went to America in 1968 for an
exhibition, but then the trail goes cold once more, with no record of it
being returned to the UK…
We have also been contacted by Martins Colleague John Russell who worked
at Birmingham City Office, Colmore Row, both for Martins and Barclays. He told us the following story about the
threatened demise of the building, and the appearance AND disappearance of a
Martins artwork…
 The
ground floor of 98 was occupied by the branch, the first floor by Midland
District office. The second floor by the United Dominions Trust, the third by
a (one man?) firm of loss adjusters. Trust Company occupied the fourth floor
along with the Martins bank canteen. When I joined Trust Company in 1965
there were plans afoot to demolish the buildings on the south side of Colmore
Row which was to be turned into a dual carriageway. Consequently, coincidence or not Martins
bought the building on the other side of the street next to Barclays. (This is 71-73 Colmore
Row and is shown here, left). Obviously
the demolition plans were abandoned, nor with the merger then pending did
Martins get to move across the street. However as a consequence of the
purchase there used to be five plaster carvings on the building one of which
was a grasshopper. Presumably therefore erected by Martins in anticipation of
the move. I cannot remember what the other carvings represented but they were
probably Martins related. Perhaps someone can solve the mystery. I believe
Barclays expanded into the building. I think the carvings were only removed
after Barclays moved down the street to new premises and the building was
taken over by the Church of England The building still has the smooth blank
facias where the carvings used to be. I remembered I have a copy of the
special edition of Birmingham Post 7 April 1971 to mark the opening of the
Inner Ring Road. I quote.. “Lately the idea of opening out Colmore Row has
been halted on financial grounds linked with pressure from those who wanted
to retain something of the Georgian and Victorian era.”
 Mystery solved (well, almost)…
We are indebted to Martins
Colleague and friend of the Archive Keith Mason for donning his detective hat
and magnifying glass, to answer the mystery of the plaques at 71-73 Colmore
Row. In this image from 1976, six plaques are still visible on the building. We have tried to zoom in on them a little
better below. Keith contacted
Barclays, who looked into their Archives and not only produced a picture, but
also an explanation of the meanings of each of the plaques.
The first plaque represents the Dudley
and West Bromwich Banking Company. The
second is The Birmingham Town and District Banking Company. Then comes Martins Grasshopper, followed by
the The Wolverhampton and Staffordshire Bank.
Fifth is the Liver Bird, and last but not least we have The Barclays
Spread Eagle. One mystery still
surrounds these plaques – when 71-73 Colmore row was demolished, no-one seems
to know what happened to these little pieces of history. The search continues!
 More
Missing Masterpieces…
Many of Martins’ finest buildings
remain intact, although many are no longer used by Barclays. In a way it is quite satisfying to think
that some of the places that once saw smart suited mods, rebellious rockers,
girls in pvc dresses and all manner of 60s people doing their banking, are
now host to theme pubs where the young people watch football on satellite TV
and wear out their thumbs on mobile phone keypads. One thing is for sure - if
Martins was still around it would certainly capitalise on all that disposable
income… What happened to some of the
items that used to decorate Martins Branches?
Having taken care to represent the local area of a branch with themed
tapestries, or mosaics, or carvings, what has become of some of these special
items that Martins commissioned? For
example, in a dusty attic, basement or shed somewhere, do YOU have one of
these “trade” themed wooden panels from Newbury branch?
Martins
Account Numbers
 From early 1961
Martins is ready to issue customers with account numbers and for these to be
printed on cheques in magnetic ink. At
the moment we are unable to trace a copy of the account number allocation
book, or any leaflets issued to customers advising them that automation is on
the way. Thanks to several visitors to
this site, we do now have more information about account numbers, and details
of the London Automation Exercise from 1966, but can YOU help? Did you take part in the automation
exercise? Were you given a Martins
(SEVEN digit) account number?
Ceramic
Treasures
In the mid
1960s, when opening a new branch, branches, it is customary for Martins to
commission a piece of art work that reflected the local area. Three such works were created by Philippa
Threlfall for the branches at Bristol Clifton, Cheltenham High Street, and
Gloucester. Philippa has kindly
supplied us with the images below, and we would like your help in finding out
what happened to these beautiful works of art. Philippa told us: “The trouble for
working - as we did - for corporate bodies like Martins was that so many of
them became subsumed by other companies. Then it becomes tricky to
trace the works, and sadly they have often become missing presumed
destroyed”… If you know the whereabouts of these pieces, please do get in touch at
the usual address: martinsbankarchive@btinternet.com
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Bristol, Clifton
FEATURING
SOME OF THE BUILDINGS AND LANDMARKS OF BRISTOL
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Cheltenham High Street
AN
INTERESTING TAKE ON THE GRASSHOPPER LOGO
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Gloucester Southgate Street
DELICATE
FRETTED CERAMIC WORK SHOWS GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL
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Images © Philippa
Threfall 1966 to date www.philippathrelfall.com
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