THE Midland Bank was once a rather intimidating place to be as a child. Mark Thomas returned to admire its new role

IT WOULD never have been allowed in my father's day. The hands on the big clock over the entrance to the magnificent old banking hall were frozen at six o'clock.
 
Back when he worked in this building, that same clock was never allowed to be a minute out. These were the days when banks closed to the public at 3.30pm, and a glance at that clock from a cashier would stifle any argument from its customers.
 
Things are a little more relaxed today, of course, and the atmosphere in the chic new restaurant that now occupies this wonderful room is considerably more laid back than the rather oppressive environment I recall from childhood visits.
 
The address, 62 Castle Street, is becoming familiar to the people of Liverpool as the name of Liverpool's latest trendy hotel, and the location for its adjoining new restaurant, Room.
 
That same address has been as familiar to me as my own, from early childhood, as the Midland Bank city office where my father worked for over 40 years, in a career punctuated only by six years in the Army in World War II.
 
I remember visiting him here, and being impressed by the splendour of the banking hall, the sheer, oak- panelled opulence of the manager's office, and the intimidating strong rooms down in the basement where gold bullion was still kept.
 
62 Castle Street closed as a bank more than 20 years ago, just after my father's retirement. It eventually re-opened as Trials bar and hotel, and we planned to go back to let him see how the place had changed.
 
To my eternal regret, he died before we could make that trip, but since then I have always watched the building's progress with fascination.
 
When I heard about its latest incarnation, an early visit was an obvious priority, and the occasion of my partner's birthday presented us with the ideal opportunity.