An Unusual Coach

[TheSignalEngineer]

30 minutes ago, keefer said:

I remembered mention of the mk1 bullion vans going to Leeds

The Mk1 bullion vans used to come into Curzon St when i was working down there. The Freightliner flats used to go into Lawley Street.

I remember one of the containers getting nicked, at Southampton IIRC, when it was contained something like 4 tons of the old size two bob bits.

[kevinlms]

2 hours ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

The Mk1 bullion vans used to come into Curzon St when i was working down there. The Freightliner flats used to go into Lawley Street.

I remember one of the containers getting nicked, at Southampton IIRC, when it was contained something like 4 tons of the old size two bob bits.

They wouldn't of been happy at whoever gave them that inside info!

[The Johnster]

It was rumoured that a container with £2million worth of 50p pieces (so, 40 million coins) newly minted from Llantrisant went walkies from Stratford Freightliner during my time as a freight guard at Canton on the early 70s, ‘71 IIRC.  If true, it was never reported in the media!

[melmerby]

3 hours ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

When the Bank of England building was on the corner of Temple Street and St Phillip's Place

Are you sure?

In the list of title deeds held by the Birmingham branch it says that the original building faced Temple Row, Cherry St & Cannon Street from c1826 - 1968, which is the same site as the modern replacement. (No longer BoE)

[The Stationmaster]

9 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

That was known as the 'Whitewash Coach' Steve. When there was a rough bit of track the geezer sat in it (Technician of some sort) used to let a splash of whitewash onto the track, to be identified later by a track gang.

P

In 1955 it still had some of its original Toplight features very much on display.

 

When I was mere lad of 17 and a Temporary Class 4 Clerk I had the interesting occasional job of dealing with the keys for the Bullion Vans.  They were all based at Old Oak and the keys were kept at Paddington with two sets for each van, one set was normally always kept at Paddington and the other set was sent as a Value package with the Guard of a different train from the one on which the van worked.  Every journey I ever heard of either started from or terminated at Paddington and the vans were always attached to Class 1 passenger trains.  They were used to move money between the Bank of England and its provincial offices but their main use by far in my time was for the transfer of gold bullion between ports and the Bank or vice versa - mostly from Avonmouth Docks to Paddington in the mid/late 1960s.  It could get quite entertaining - as occasionally happened - if a train was replatformed without thinking about which side the doors were on the van; not popular with the BT Police who had to hang around for a lot longer than normal while the train was shunted to a suitable platform.

 

When the 50p coins started being minted at Llantrisant (which was known to those who had been transferred there from London as 'the mint in the hole') they were shipped to London by passenger train contained in small oil drums which were simply loaded in a van.  Apparently there was no sort of marking at the oil drums to identify them as containing coin, they just looked like very ordinary, but very heavy, 10 gallon oil drums and they were transferred direct to a Bank of England vehicle at Paddington.

[TheSignalEngineer]

8 hours ago, melmerby said:

Are you sure?

In the list of title deeds held by the Birmingham branch it says that the original building faced Temple Row, Cherry St & Cannon Street from c1826 - 1968, which is the same site as the modern replacement. (No longer BoE)

Well if I'm wrong so are Historic England. 

https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/AA42/00437

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

Well if I'm wrong so are Historic England. 

https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/AA42/00437

Thanks for that.

I had been trying to find a picture of it and none of the books of Birmingham I have feature it.

I'm sure I can remember that building, never took any notice of who it was.

 

 

 

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

1 hour ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

Well if I'm wrong so are Historic England. 

https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/AA42/00437

I don't think you necessarily are.  Mrs Stationmaster used to work for the BoE, in London, and recalls a differeent address for the BoE in Brum so she thinks it possible that it might have moved at some time.

[TheSignalEngineer]

49 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

I don't think you necessarily are.  Mrs Stationmaster used to work for the BoE, in London, and recalls a differeent address for the BoE in Brum so she thinks it possible that it might have moved at some time.

In the 1960s they moved to a new building across the road on the corner of Temple Row and Cherry Street. I think they are now in Newhall Street.

[melmerby]

42 minutes ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

In the 1960s they moved to a new building across the road on the corner of Temple Row and Cherry Street. I think they are now in Newhall Street.

They don't have any branch offices around the UK anymore. (Since 1997)*

They rely on local "agents"

What is now the 1960's block Bank House in Cherry St was the Bank of England (& Bank of Ireland) Birmingham branch but is now just an office block.

This was the site referenced in the article I quoted from and seem to suggest it was there that they were holding title deeds for properties way back.

 

* Bank of England's own records

[Fat Controller]

5 minutes ago, melmerby said:

They don't have any branch offices around the UK anymore. (Since 1997)*

They rely on local "agents"

What is now the 1960's block Bank House in Cherry St was the Bank of England (& Bank of Ireland) Birmingham branch but is now just an office block.

This was the site referenced in the article I quoted from and seem to suggest it was there that they were holding title deeds for properties way back.

 

* Bank of England's own records

Where else did they have 'branch offices'? I remember Bristol, Leeds and Newcastle.

[The Stationmaster]

1 hour ago, Fat Controller said:

Where else did they have 'branch offices'? I remember Bristol, Leeds and Newcastle.

Plymouth - although that one went a long time ago.

[petethemole]

There was a branch in Southampton High Street.  It regularly handled bullion and currency en route to/from overseas by ocean liner.  The rear entrance had a very stout gate with an observation turret adjacent.  The original gate has gone.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.9003271,-1.4025908,3a,75y,277.57h,85.75t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLFof44AN3cv7IuuCC-UlhA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Edited March 16, 2020 by petethemole

[Steamport Southport]

Liverpool definitely. The building is still there. I believe the staff moved to a modern building though.

 

 

 

 

 

Jason

[melmerby]

5 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

Where else did they have 'branch offices'? I remember Bristol, Leeds and Newcastle.

List edited from BoE report in 1963:

BOE.doc

[melmerby]

5 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

Where else did they have 'branch offices'? I remember Bristol, Leeds and Newcastle.

List edited from BoE report in 1963:

BoE branches up to Q4 1963

 

GLOUCESTER 19th July 1826

MANCHESTER 21st Sept. 1826

SWANSEA 23rd Oct. 1826

BIRMINGHAM 1st Jan. 1827

The branch took over its present premises from the Staffordshire

Joint Stock Bank in 1890 and is the only remaining branch

carrying on business in a building which was not especially built

for the Bank.

 

LIVERPOOL 2nd July 1827

BRISTOL 12th July 1827

LEEDS 23rd Aug. 1827

EXETER 17th Dec. 1827

NEWCASTLE 21st April 1828

HULL 2nd Jan. 1829

NORWICH 1st Dec. 1829

PLYMOUTH 1st May 1834

PORTSMOUTH 16th May 1834

LEICESTER 1st Jan. 1844

SOUTHAMPTON 29th April 1940

 

(copied from BoE records)

 

By this time several had already closed

 

 

Edited March 16, 2020 by melmerby

[melmerby]

AS the BoE didn't move into the building in Temple Row until 1890 that brings the question: When did the bullion connection to the GWR happen?

Snow Hill station was first rebuilt in 1871, so it couldn't have been done then.

It was rebuilt again c1912 so would presumably been then.

 

Wikipedia mentions the siding:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Hill_tunnel_(Birmingham)

 

[FoxUnpopuli]

Deleted, didn't check all the numbers

Edited March 16, 2020 by FoxUnpopuli