Photo-a-Day  (Monday, 28th November, 2022)

They don't build 'em like that anymore !

Long ago, when I was a teenager, my mother sent me to pay in a cheque at this bank. It was written with, what was brand new at the time, a ball point pen. The bank would not accept it because, they said, they " do not know how long Biro ink would last". That was at least 70 years ago. Has the link faded by now ?

What a pic !
I think I have mentioned it before somewhere on WW.....I remember going into the Nat West with my mother but that was when in the days when it wasnt called by that name.
It was all hush like a library used to be. Polished wood, mahongany maybe & white stone that I took to be marble, think it even had black & white tiled floor.
Those were the days when banks took it as an honour to have you as a client.
Great photo Dennis.

What a lovely building. I remember, like Helen, when it was all wooden partitions and polished counters inside. It was the same with Post Offices. They felt like hushed, special places, Now they're what I call "plastic" and you feel you have no privacy.

there was a time when companies used some of their profits to create lasting branch buildings to show off, nowadays they have no branch buildings and the profits all go to shareholders

I never had enough money that needed to be kept in a bank.

Hope there is a lift in there up to that attic room. Doesn’t it look a long way up.

It's a lovely building. Is it unusual to see old buildings like this with no lettering or date anywhere on it? I wonder if it was built as a bank or as something else. Nice photo Dennis.

And are those floodlights at window level below the attic windows.
A grand building.

It would have been a good venue for the Post Office to go to. A fine looking building.

That building looks as if it will last a thousand years. ( Unless the Council get ideas!)

Wonder who was last person to stand on that balcony, and why does the building have three port hole windows.

Those porthole windows are intriguing . Was it originally a Lloyd's Insurance building ?
I like the pigeon posing at the very top like a Wigan liverbird .

My parents didn't have a cheque account - the family had TSB passbooks at the branch just down from the County cinema.
Mum was once sent a cheque drawn on a District Bank account and, in 1967 I think, sent me to the Wigan branch in Wallgate to get it cashed. The sum was £4 7s 6d. The interior was polished wood, heavy doors and thick glass screens. The counter staff were men, average age about 60. They looked at me like something they had stepped in. Eventually, got the cash for Mum. Took about 15 minutes in an atmosphere that today I'd describe as hostile.

I remember the bank/passbook when deposit entries were made and written with a fountain pen, the cashier’s initials at the side, the same with withdrawals. Hard to believe these days with automatic machines at the forefront.. There was always a queue. It was a shame what was destroyed with those beautiful mahogany counters. I have never been inside that bank but it would be nice to think it was still a throwback inside to match the beautiful exterior.

It is no longer like it used to be Veronica, There are desks, with assistants behind them but no longer separated from the customers by partitions. The old style and formality has gone.

The old TSB building in King Street,(pre 1974) is now occupied by Frank Platt and Fishwick,solicitors and still has the original interior features of solid oak counters,beautiful pendant lighting and revolving front door. It's lovely.

The old TSB building in King Street, after it closed as a bank, it was used by the Council, as a Rent and Rates payment office, until that was moved to the Civic Centre, and the building then became Flatt & Pishwick solicitors.

With those metal spikes along the wall under the cash machine and ground floor window it seems they have had problems with folks using it for a seat and likely whilst eating their pies and mugs of coffee (brown grit in hot water) from Mrs Miggins Pie & Coffee shop 10 Standishgate.

One word to describe this building - Majestic. It stands head and shoulders above the neighbouring buildings. Long may it stand!

NatWest Bank was formerly National Westminster Bank. Going back a
long time further, it was Westminster Bank. About 50 or so years ago,
it merged with National Provincial Bank and another bank to become
National Westminster Bank.

Ray, the National Westminster Bank still is The National Westminster Bank. 'Natwest' is a group of companies, including the National Westminster Bank.
The National Westminster Bank is a PLC.