Kindly shared by Jim McIntosh

East Northumberland Area Office in Cramlington rarely gets a mention on here so I thought that I would do something about that!

In 1986/7, as a recent graduate I was fortunate to work there for around 12 months. Goodness knows what they made of this skinny 22-year old lad and the preferential treatment he received!

I spent some time on the Securities Desk and recall much of the workload came from the second charges been taken over miners' houses as the branches helped sort out their finances following the 1984/85 miners' strike. Unusually, we also completed one or two ships' mortgages.

Names that immediately come to mind who worked on the desk are Dent Wallace (I heard he sadly passed away last year), Dave Hall (never a dull moment in his company), Jeanette ?, Julia ? Nigel ? and Dave Kidd (who patiently taught me many things - if Dave didn't know it, it wasn't worth knowing). Head of Securities at that time were Roy Charlton (who helped progress my stuttering career a little later), followed by Steve Smith. Harry Simpson was the Area Manager, with Colin Wilson (sadly passed away) as his deputy. Of course were referred to them as MR Simpson and MR Wilson then.

We worked hard although many Friday lunchtimes were spent in the Red Lion at Bedlington playing pool and having a pint.

I also got to spend some time at Whitley Bay branch (alas no longer open) where Roy Thompson took me under his wing - a thoroughly decent man who helped me believe a bit more in myself when some others were quick to put me down. Enough said.

The pictures were taken at the Area Office Christmas Meal in December 1986. I can't recall the venue but it was probably a pub in Cramlington. In the top photo, from R to L, Steve Smith, Alan (?), myself, Dave Kidd (with the beard) and Adrian (? with a tie and beard). The bottom photo shows Alan and Steve again plus two ladies, one of whom with the blonde 1980s perm was Tracy/Tracey, another great character.

I eventually moved to Marketing Department in Sheffield (Roy Charlton helped with that one), had a spell back in the branch network in Chesterfield and Dronfield before seeing sense and moving back into Head Office roles. My final role was in IT Operations at Tankersley, Barnsley before leaving the Bank in December 2015. However, I retain fond memories of those early days (even though I'm not smiling on the photo).