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Save for the Twenty-First Century wheelie-bin, the Institute at Cononley seems to have changed very little since it was home to a Friday Morning Banking Service from the early part of the Twentieth Century until the mid-1950s. There has however been a Banking Service in the Village since at least the 1890s. Cononley opens as a sub-Branch to Skipton, under the ownership of the Craven Bank, which merges with the Bank of Liverpool in 1906.
The Banking service starts life in a house at No 80 Main Street, which as we shall see later, becomes home to the Cononley Village Institute before a permanent hall can be built. The sub-Branch at Cononley endures the various changes of bank that eventually bring it under the ownership of the modern day Martins Bank, and staff are sent from Skipton to attend the customers of Cononley each Friday. As we shall also see later on this page, the opening hours have changed a few times down the years, but were almost always on a Friday. Skipton has a number of branches and sub branches under its control at various points from the days of the Craven Bank until those of Martins Bank, but so many tiny branches cannot be indefinitely sustained, and through reasons of wartime and economics amongst others, many are closed well before the 1969 merger with Barclays.
If you thought that Bank Branch Closures was an annoying twenty-first century phenomenon, think again: When Martins decides to close Cononley in 1956, the Bank is busy pruning its portfolio ready to embark on an ambitious programme of new builds, refits and closures, and a second Southward expansion. Not having to pay rent and rates on a number of tiny Northern sub-Branches will help fund the Bank’s ambition to be a truly NATIONAL concern. Here we have a curious comparison with our modern day banks – many are closing branches in all but the largest towns, as the use of technology by customers makes bricks and mortar redundant. Yet, sixty years earlier we have ANOTHER branch closure programme, again for reasons of economic sense. What is even more spooky, is that the way in which the closure communication to the customers of Cononley is worded, is practically identical to that used today when a Branch is closed. We are grateful to Dave Baldwin whose own research into the history of Cononley sub-Branch, lead us to that of David Gulliver who was able to provide us with a copy of the original letter sent out to customers, to advise them of the closure of the service:
We are grateful for the help of Local Historian David Gulliver, who together with the late Trevor Hodgson wrote “The History of Cononley (an Airedale Village)” which was published in the year 2000. David has pieced together details of the Banking service at Cononley, first provided in the 1800s by the Craven Bank and ended in 1956 by Martins Bank. We are currently trying to trace exactly when the Bank moved from 80 Main Street to the purpose built Cononley Institute, whose founders, as you will see further down this page receive the help of the Directors of the Bank of Liverpool…
It is not known if the Craven Bank always occupied 80, Main Street or when it transferred to the Village Institute. However, in 1906/7 the Village Institute (as yet without a building of their own opened a reading room in ‘Craven Bank House’ which was 80, Main Street. By the 1920’s there was a confectionery shop in the building.
In 1906, the founders of the Cononley Village Institute are given space by the Bank of Liverpool in the property used for the once-a-week Banking Service, known as Craven Bank House. We were intrigued to find in David Gulliver’s collection, two letters written by the founders, appealing to recipients to help in any way they could, to achieve a venue in the village where people could better themselves, and enjoy wholesome entertainment without fear of political or religious bias, and of course without the temptations of alcohol. In the first letter below, the Directors of the Bank of Liverpool are thanked for their generosity in giving the Cononley Village Institute its first – somewhat cramped – home, and the message to prospective investors is clear and strong – the village must have “an attraction that will keep our young men from degenerating”…
The second letter hammers home the importance to Cononley of having some way to keep its young men on the straight and narrow. Entertainment will be at a minimum – EDUCATION is the key, and a library will form a key part of the planned Institute. It is interesting to note that the Village has no “Gentry” – that is to say no local wealth in the form of a titled or otherwise wealthy landowner, to whose vanity the Village Institute founders can appeal to become benefactor and stump up the cash for a suitable venue…
London is swinging, and all over England and Wales Martins Bank is busy planning and opening new branches. In Buckinghamshire it’s the turn of Chesham, which will open as a sub-Branch to Martins Bank’s office at 35 High Street High Wycombe. At the same time, a rash of similarly styled Branches is making a splash on our High Streets. See also ASHFORD, MAINDEE, BRISTOL NEWFOUNDLAND STREET and NEWPORT COMMERCIAL ROAD.
Like two trains unaware of an impending collision, Martins’ Branches programme, and Barclays’ existing branch portfolio will inevitably work against each other in some parts of the Country, and sadly for Martins, many of its newest branches will become casualties of the rationalisation of merging the two banks. The Chesham Branch does survive until 1972, a little longer at least, than dozens of branches destined to end their days on 12 December 1969, three days before the merger of Barclays and Martins Branches. Chesham proudly bears the sculpture of the Grasshopper of the South, saluting the southern roots of the bank, and Martins’ Coat of Arms can also be seen on the branch door, although the Liver Bird will soon disappear altogether from Martins Bank’s branding…