IT is judging time, and time for a town to reveal both its blooming and its banking secrets.
Last week, judges from Northumbria in Bloom have been casting their eyes over Darlington; today, adjudicators from Britain in Bloom will be in town to look at the planters, the hanging baskets, the green wall, the floral displays, the parks and the hidden town centre rooftop garden on the top of one of the landmark buildings.
As the judges wander around the town centre pondering great horticultural thoughts, Memories gives them a few historical facts.
Barclays Bank on High Row in 1959
For instance, Barclays bank on High Row was designed by the greatest Gothic architect of the Victorian era, Alfred Waterhouse, and took 20 months to build at a cost of £12,185. When it was complete, on April 21, 1866, the Darlington & Stockton Times said: “Surely no one can look on the magnificent building, which now rears its head with such lofty grandeur, and feel disappointed. As a specimen of the 13th Century Gothic style of architecture, it would be difficult to find its equal in the district.”
The judges are more interested, though, to learn about a 1970s secret: the bank has a rooftop garden which has this year been brought back to life.
The building was originally the home of Backhouses bank, formed in 1774 by a family of Quaker linen manufacturers. In 1896, Backhouses amalgamated with 20 other local Quaker banks to form the national Barclays bank – Backhouses was one of the oldest and most respected of the 20.
Barclays rooftop garden in High Row, Darlington, when it was first planned in 1974
In 1974, to celebrate the Backhouse bicentenary, the High Row building was extended as it became the Local Head Office with 54 Barclays branches under its control (Barclays in those days had 3,100 branches across England and Wales).
The crowning glory of the extension was a roof garden, which the upper offices of the Victorian bank looked out onto. It was planted up by Everards Nurseries of Richmond, and for several years, it was well tended.
Jenny Maw and Pauline Moses tend the Barclays roof garden in 1976
But in the 21st Century, it was allowed to do its own thing with the result that large shrubs came to dominate everything. It became the subject of an urban whisper – the roof garden that no one was allowed to see.
However, it has recently been taken back in hand and colourfully planted up so that now it can be used as a well-being area. It is, of course, still private, but it is a secret space high above High Row, a pocket park in the sky, and a jewel in Darlington’s blooming crown which is impressing the judges.
READ MORE: THE FIRST LIONESSES Pt 1: HOW NETTIE HONEYBALL INTRODUCED WOMEN'S FOOTBALL TO DARLINGTON
READ NEXT: THE FIRST LIONESSES Pt 2: THE MUNITIONETTES KICKSTART WOMEN'S FOOTBALL IN THE NORTH EAST
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