Journal of Accountancy Volume 49 Issue 2 Article 2 2-1930 Bank of England: A Rough Sketch Walter Mucklow Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/jofa Part of the Accounting Commons Recommended Citation Mucklow, Walter (1930) "Bank of England: A Rough Sketch," Journal of Accountancy: Vol. 49 : Iss. 2 , Article 2. Available at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/jofa/vol49/iss2/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Archival Digital Accounting Collection at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Accountancy by an authorized editor of eGrove. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. The Bank of England A ROUGH SKETCH By Walter Mucklow “Benk! Benk! Benk!” One evening, when looking over some English newspapers, I could have sworn that I heard this cry as I came across a picture showing the additions which were to be made to the fabric of the Bank of England, and suddenly I felt as if I had been transported three thousand miles, carried backwards for a little more than a generation and all my senses brought successively into intense activity. I could see the crowded streets on a week day, the deserted spaces on a London Sunday. I could taste the smoke of a No vember fog which shut out all sights. I could feel the push of passers-by rushing for a bus. I could smell the pavement on a hot August afternoon. But above all, more insistent than all, I heard the bus conductor standing on his small step, hanging on to his leather strap or slapping the side of the bus with it as a sign to the driver to go on, and calling “Benk! Benk! Benk!” “Newgate, Cheapside, Benk!” “City road, Moorgate street, Benk!” “Bishopgate street, Cornhill, Benk!” From all directions north of the river the bus lines seemed to end at the “benk” and the busses, having reached that terminus, set forth again and used it as a starting point.