Kielder in Northumberland holds the dubious honour of being the British village furthest from a cash machine.
Residents of this picturesque community, which is just three miles south of the English/Scottish border, have to travel 18 miles to reach the nearest free ATM machine at a Co-operative store in the village of Bellingham.
A return car trip on the winding lanes can take two hours or more. Those who rely on public transport face an even greater struggle.
Getting to a bank is a bigger challenge. Bellingham once had three branches – a Lloyds, Barclays and TSB – but these have shut in recent years, leaving Kielder residents no option but to travel to Hexham, 30 miles away, to reach a branch.
Kielder may seem like an extreme example. Yet it offers a glimpse into the future of thousands of communities around the UK, which face being turned into cash deserts without access to physical money.
Take me to cash: Toby Walne with farmer John Richardson, and going by bike
The fact is that banks are hurtling us towards a cashless society as they close ever-more branches and ATM machines. The number of high street banks has halved over the past eight years – and a further 263 are already earmarked for closure this year.
As the banks flee, they also rip out their cash machines. Almost a third of ATMs have been stripped out over the same period, amounting to more than 20,000.
Kielder parish council chair Dick Graham shakes his head in disbelief at how banks have been allowed to abandon communities without any accountability.
The 69-year-old retired Forestry Commission worker says: ‘Banks spend millions on publicity claiming they are there to support us, but the truth is they just want to squeeze us out of every penny we have.
‘Axeing branches and ATMs, forcing people to spend with cards rather than cash, only boosts their profits.’
The cash network organisation Link claims that banking hubs where a number of different banks share the same premises could be a solution for Kielder and Bellingham residents.
However, although 34 such hubs are in the pipeline up and down the country, just four have actually opened. Branch closures steam on ahead while banking hubs open at a snail’s pace.
Graham adds: ‘Hordes of tourists come to enjoy our rural location, but struggle to get hold of cash. An ATM or visiting mobile bank could be a godsend for our village.’
Getting to the cash machine
Driving is by far the easiest option to get from Kielder to Bellingham – though even this can take as long as an hour when the weather closes in. Meanwhile, a return trip to Hexham on difficult lanes can take three hours or more.
As I am in Kielder without a car, I inquire about a taxi instead. But, the return trip will set me back £120 – a huge sum for anyone’s budget and hardly practical when the ATM limit is just £250.
Unfortunately, due to our location, it is necessary to bank online – but not out of choice
Kielder resident Jeannette Barron
Next I look into public transport. Kielder resident Jeannette Barron, 63, tells me she pays £10 return for a dial-a-ride service to get to a bank and shops in Hexham.
But the service is only available on a Tuesday and Friday, with just one bus per day. Passengers are picked up in Kielder at 8.45am and arrive in Hexham close to two hours later. The bus returns at 1.45pm.
Jeannette, a retired custody officer, says: ‘Unfortunately, due to our location, it is necessary to bank online – but not out of choice. It makes you more vulnerable to hackers, and those of us not keen on computers can really struggle. If more banks close, millions more will be forced to bank online.’
I phone the dial-a-ride firm Adapt (NE) to book a lift. Someone answers and says they are busy and will ring back in ten minutes. I am still waiting for that call.
Next, I visit the village’s bike hire company, The Bike Place. Here, I can hire a pedal bike for £35 for the day or £60 for an electric. Manager Martin Lively says: ‘If you get pedalling now and don’t dawdle, you can get to the Bellingham cash machine in 90 minutes.’
But the rain is starting to spit and I don’t much like the look of the steep hills ahead of me. Politely declining the offer, I make a swift exit.
Running out of options, I decide to try hitch-hiking.
However, it is a gamble because I risk being stranded on the way there or when trying to get back. There is also the small problem of there being few vehicles on the road and locals are quite rightly distrustful of an odd-looking stranger clutching a notepad.
I think I’ve found my lucky break when I stumble across sheep farmer John Richardson checking his 300 Swaledales on a 100-acre plot in nearby Yarrow – just by the edge of six-mile-long reservoir Kielder Water.
The 83-year-old has a twinkle in his eye as he rolls up in his 450cc quad bike and encourages me to hop on board. He says: ‘Of course we all need to get hold of cash – even living out here. But banks just don’t want to know or care.’
However, John concedes the quad bike won’t do for a journey as far as the Halifax branch in Hexham, where he banks. He is only able to take me along tracks away from the Tarmac as he doesn’t have a road licence for the quad bike – not ideal when it rains.
At least the Post Office survives
For those who are very flexible on timings and who don’t prefer the anonymity of an ATM, the post office offers another option. It is open from 9.30am to midday on Monday and Saturday and for six hours each day from Tuesday to Friday.
Unlike banks in the area, the post office has survived thanks to tight regulation – something sorely needed to preserve access to cash.
Sign of the times: Kielder residents have an 18-mile drive to an ATM
When I go there, the entrance is locked, with a sign on the battered old blue door saying: ‘Please ring bell for service’.
Postmaster Julie Webb opens the small post office kiosk, which is plastered with advertising from a bygone era – promoting fishing rod licences, phone cards and National Savings.
It is freezing cold as Julie cannot afford to heat the room – she is wrapped up in a hooded blanket.
There is nothing for sale but second-hand books to raise funds for the local air ambulance service. The shop in which the post office stands was closed years ago.
Julie says: ‘Some 95 per cent of every postcode district must be within six miles of their nearest post office – and this minimum level of access keeps us alive. The banks do not have such rules.’
This post office survives with the bare bones of a service but if Julie decided to close, it is hard to imagine who else might take up the limited service to serve locals.
Despite challenges, cash is still on menu
When I finally arrive at Bellingham, I walk into the Village Bakery, a shop that has been serving locals for more than a century.
There are polite signs dotted around: ‘Please note – cash only. Thank you.’
Slick bank managers wanting to force customers to hand over a debit or credit card for payment – or ‘swish’ a piece of plastic over an electronic reader device – would get short shrift from the bakery owner’s wife Bridget Arnup. She does not even have a till.
Bridget says: ‘We have no intention of helping banks and others make more money by charging us commission for taking their cards and will not be bullied into giving up the freedom of being able to use cash.
‘You take money away and goodness only knows what might happen. Electronic payments sound well and good but what happens when fraudsters hack into the computer systems. Cash also helps with budgeting.’
And with that lesson, I purchase a scotch pie, mince and onion pie, shortbread and custard tart for the princely sum of £4.50 after taking out cash from the neighbouring ATM.
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