One bank …. a tile shop ….. Café Nero …. and a return of an old favourite

 There are many who mourn the instantly memorable “Four Banks” name for the junctions of Barlow Moor and Wilbraham Roads.

Two of four banks, circa 1995

And of course, it made perfect sense given that there was a bank on each corner.

Just when “Four Banks” came into common usage is I think lost in time.

I don’t remember it much before the turn of the century and anyway in the 1980s one corner was still a butcher’s shop while the Midland Bank didn’t move into its corner until the 1990s.  

Go back further into the past and the corner now occupied by the tile shop was a private residence called Sunwick which only became a bank in the 1920s.

No bank, 1983

All of which means that Four Banks or Bank Square* has had a short existence and has not even had the longevity of the former name Kemp’s Corner which owed its place in popular usage to Harry Kemp who opened a chemist shop in the early 20th century. 

Being a canny businessmen Mr. Kemp added a large clock above the entrance, and a meeting place was created, which lasted well after Mr. Kemp had died and the chemist shop became a fast-food outlet to be succeeded by the Midland Bank.

Like so many popular names it arose out of the obvious.  Here was Mr. Kemp’s shop with its clock which made it a perfect place to arrange a meeting, all too important in the names before mobiles.

Wilbraham Road the return of a name, 2025

And the observant will have noticed that the name Kemps Corner has reappeared on the building which was once Mr. Kemp’s and subsequently became the fourth bank.

At which point purists will point out the mistake in how the name has been painted on the wall.

The District Bank, circa 1930

All of which brings me to the current speculation on the demise of the last remaining bank on Bank Square, which given the swift demise of all the others seems a bet to be made.

But not so, as Peter Topping told me having gone into the Nat West on Tuesday to ask if they were closing.

 “The bank Manager Heather said definitely not... seeing as how they had just done a massive refurb and installed new ATM machines.

 I said I was glad about that because I didn’t want to have to rewrite the song about 4 Banks Corner!!!

 Anyway, she let me take a photo of a big picture on the wall which showed the bank in 1930”.

When Mr. Vincent Van Gogh visited, 2024

And that in turn will lead some to coin any one of a dozen variations on “one bank, a tile shop Café Nero and a return of an old favourite”.

Those in the know will appreciate Peter’s dilemma given that he is currently writing songs about Chorlton some of which appear in his new book, “Musical Poems and Pictures of Chorlton-cum-Hardy which has its launch at Chorlton Library on Saturday between 2 & 4”.

This book breaks new ground, mixing his poems set to music and designed to "not only appeal to the visually impaired and hard of hearing but to everyone young and old".

All of which means his song Four Banks needs no alteration, but I suspect may inspire him to compose a new piece on the big clock on Kemp’s Corner.  

 Pictures; Barlow Moor and Wilbraham Roads, circa 1995, courtesy of Steve, almost the same corner in 1984 and the return of Kemp's Corner, 2025,from the collection of Andrew Simpson, The District Bank circa 1930 courtesy of the Nat West and the bank in the style of a painting by Mr. Vincent Van Gogh Painting 2024.

*Bank Square appears on a postcard from the late 19th century