The Exchange: keeping the history alive!
The Exchange team steps back in time…
Imagine travelling to the bank carrying your pot of savings in a wooden strongbox bound with iron hoops. Every week you’re stashing your pennies, tuppences and sixpences into the small safe, before depositing it at your local branch. The bank had the only key – which meant you were prevented from spending all your savings in the pub on a Friday night.
A ‘home safe’ is exactly what the team at The Exchange have been presented with – and now it’s going to be preserved in a time capsule and stored within The Vaults in the heart of the building.
The donation came from a club of 100 former Municipal Bank workers who used to work in The Exchange building, and regularly meet there socially now.
David Parkes who heads up the Bank Retirement Club said so many bank staff met and married whilst working there that it was fondly nicknamed the ‘Birmingham Marriage Bureau’! As well as the home safe, the Bank Retirement Club has also donated a series of commemorative plaques.
Inspired by the club’s quest to keep the history alive, The Exchange team have put together their own time capsule to tell their story, including photos and events from the incredible game-changing summer of the Commonwealth Games 2022, and staff memorabilia. One day a curious individual will be lucky enough to discover this century-long treasure trove of Exchange memorabilia in The Vaults.
The Exchange – on Centenary Square in the heart of the city centre – is just one of our beautiful and distinctive buildings available for hire, with a public café and exhibition space. If you’re looking for a venue with character, staffed with an amazing team, then please get in touch.
