NW	NE	STIRCHLEY	62	10th
SW	SE	1507 Pershore Road, Birmingham B30 2JL 021-458 1328	Y	1923

A part-time evening branch (Mondays; Fridays; Saturdays 18:00 to 19:30) was opened in Stirchley from December 5th 1919; the premises utilised being the front room of a house located at 299 High Street, Stirchley - a rental of 10/- per week being paid. The Minutes of the Bank's various Management Committees record that four separate locations were utilised  before permanent premises were established in 1923: 299 High Street (as detailed above); Stirchley Council School (from November 5th 1920); a portion of a house at 1516 Pershore Road; and 1471 Pershore Road (from December 1920; rental £32. 10s. 0d. per annum).  During this period, a local savings fund established in connection with the Stirchley Womens' Meeting, and which was under the supervision of the Lady Mayoress (Mrs W A Cadbury), was transferred to the branch. A clerk was sent from Head Office each Monday afternoon to attend at the Stirchley Meeting House in order to assist with the fund's administration.

 

These temporary locations were used as the Bank made attempts to find permanent premises. Eventually, in March 1923 it became possible to purchase the freehold of 1505 and 1507 Pershore Road, for £2,750. However, possession could not be obtained of number 1505, owing to the operation of the Rent Restrictions Act, so a partial reconstruction was planned that would be restricted to 1507. Four tenders were received for this work, ranging from £1,115 to £1,280, all of which were felt to be excessive. Accordingly, the City Surveyor (Mr H H Humphries) inspected the premises and, after incorporating certain suggestions made by Councillor Appleby, he felt that the alterations could be more expeditiously and economically carried out by the Public Works Department at a cost of £935; further negotiations reduced the cost to £909. Other work was done by Pearce & Cutler (leaded lights: £6); R Hunt (counters: £54); Gas Department (branch heating: £79 and flat lighting £12). This reconstruction was the first to be dealt with by the City Surveyor acting as architect for the Bank. The next-door premises at 1505 were found to be in a bad state of repair, requiring the Bank to carry out some repairs on behalf of the tenant at a cost of £7.

right:

below (October 29th 1923):

below:

Interior of the branch in 1923

below:

Stirchley branch after an extension to include 1505 Pershore Road was completed - November 1930.
The new extension is on the right of the photograph

below:

branch interior following the 1930 extension

At the end of the 19th-century, building development along the Pershore Road from Birmingham via Ten Acres, began to reach the hamlet of Stirchley. This development was to continue towards Cotteridge, supported by the opening of Bournville railway station in 1876, and Cadbury Brothers' factory in 1879. By the commencement of the Second World War, the area was completely built up, including some council housing.

 

(Right: Pershore Road, Stirchley, at the beginning of the 20th-Century. The view is towards Birmingham's city centre - the premises that were later taken over by the Bank as a permanent branch are on the left, and can be identified by the four closely spaced windows at first floor level)

At this time it was the practice for branches to obtain cash, and to deposit excess cash, via branches of the Midland Bank. As there was no branch of the Midland in Stirchley, cumbersome arrangements through the Midland Bank in Selly Oak were put in place. This system required the Stirchley manager to take money to Selly Oak branch after close of business for overnight safe custody. The next morning the manager of Selly Oak branch then banked the cash at the local Midland Bank branch. Early in 1924 arrangements to use a branch of Lloyds Bank in Stirchley were implemented - subsequently, BMB branches used Midland, Lloyds, or Barclays, whichever was most convenient.

 

Mr H E Martin was appointed as manager of the new permanent branch, shortly followed by E H Viney. On taking up the tenancy of the flat above the newly-built Northfield branch in 1926 Mr Viney was appointed manager there as the General Manager thought that he "would be conveniently placed for working the Northfield Branch and its three sub-branches .... by being in close proximity than would be the case if a manager from another part of the town was placed there". Later, Mr L A Wright was appointed at Stirchley at a salary of £130 per annum.

The City Surveyor's scheme at Stirchley was designed so that immediately possession could be obtained of the London Restaurant (right) operating at number 1505, the two premises could be amalgamated.

 

In the meantime, the newly altered premises at 1507 Pershore Road only were formally opened on October 29th 1923, by the Deputy Mayor (Alderman W A Cadbury) who deposited £1 to be placed to the credit of the first baby born in the Stirchley district that day. The branch then opened on a daily basis, with standard hours applying.

The 1930 Annual Report stated that the premises at Stirchley were being enlarged. This is when the Bank was able to take possession of the next-door unit that it had owned for some years. The architect who designed the incorporation of number 1505 with number 1507 was W Norman Twist, and the work was carried out by George Mobbs at a cost of £1,397.

 

In 1959, the Bank sold 353 square yards of land at the rear that formed part of the garden of the flat above the branch for £350 plus costs. The purchaser was the Bank's neighbour, the Ten Acres and Stirchley Co-operative Society Funeral Furnishing Service, who required additional land for the parking of their vehicles, and the erection of a Chapel of Rest.