From Barclays Bank to Ateesh

The building which now houses Ateesh restaurant on Ponteland’s Main Street was built in 1970 as new premises in the village for Barclays Bank. Barclays had occupied the building at the west end of the village which now houses Wimpole Clinic but then, as now, English High Streets were undergoing a period of change driven by technology. Now it is the internet and online shopping which is forcing the change but in 1970 it was the introduction of computers which was changing the nature of banking resulting in banks moving away from their old, solid, Victorian and Edwardian premises and opening new, modern premises with car parking provision viewed as a “must”. Barclays faced tough competition in Ponteland from the more modern Midland Bank just across the road and then Lloyds who moved into their new premises (now Café By Design) in 1967 and Barclays quickly followed suit.

The site on which the new bank was built had been occupied by a large, white garage, run by the Ponteland Motor Co. Ltd. which was owned by the Jameson family who lived in the house next door. Both buildings were demolished to make way for the bank. Interestingly, the white garage was a First World War aircraft hangar which had stood on the Town Moor and was transported here after the end of the War.

The new bank was designed by the Carlisle architect firm of Douglas Marriott, Worby and Robinson in a “modern contemporary style”.

The days of communities as small as Ponteland having four separate banks along their High Street changed around 2000 when banks began offering online banking via computers. The pressure only increased by the 2010’s when smartphones allowed mobile banking. The number of physical branches collapsed. Barclays closed their branch here in January 2019.

The premises stood empty for a few years. The most common reuse of former bank buildings has been to turn them into cafés, or bars and restaurants and this is what has happened here. The Kasaei family run a series of modern restaurants in the North East and they opened a Middle Eastern restaurant here in February 2023 reflecting the national trend.