| Jack Walne — 08-Nov-2004 9.57 AM |
| The canopy supports, unusually close to the edge of the platform, and what can be seen of the canopy suggest the Liverpool and Manchester line. The background building, wide enough for a seat and posters at right angles to the running lines, suggest the island platform at Earlestown. The problem with that as a theory is that the last letter on the seat back, mostly obscured by the person sitting at the (photographer's) right-hand end of the seat, seems to be a "D" |
| Hugh Gillies-Smith — 08-Nov-2004 10.15 AM |
Lancaster Castle, south end of the downside bay platforms, perhaps?
There certainly looks to be an over bridge in the background ; the style of the roof supports may assist to confirm. |
| Mike Laine — 08-Nov-2004 3.07 PM |
I don't think it is Lancaster.
1) The columns are in the wrong places.
2) Although the column feet are the same, the photo shows full length whereas Lancaster has half length.
3) At Lancaster there is a door in the wall. |
| Robert H. Barlow — 09-Nov-2004 9.58 AM |
| If the last letter of the name is ‘O’, it would most likely be Llandudno. I don’t have a sufficiently clear picture of the station interior to be sure, though. |
| Jon Price — 09-Nov-2004 10.46 PM |
| Although the width of the buildings and the square pillars are similar to Llandudno junction the buildings there are now brick and the photo seems to show a standard LNWR prefab wooden structure. |
| Mike Williams — 10-Nov-2004 6.20 PM |
| Funny Robert should mention Llandudno because that was the first place to come to mind when I saw the photo. The formation to the left looks very wide. What I’m not clear about are the horizontal lines on the left, are they two footbridges, both covered? |
| Jack Walne — 10-Nov-2004 7.41 PM |
The last letter on the seat back might just as well be an “O” as a “D” but it seems unlikely that if the photograph were taken at Llandudno every poster visible on the wall would be advertising the Isle of Man, even though the IOMSPCo ran a (weekly, I think) service between Douglas and Llandudno. In LMS days posters of the IoM were in almost every station in the North West and West Riding and either is a more probable location.
The background to the picture is so out of focus that it is difficult to be certain what is there - pale buildings with dark roofs are just as likely as a footbridge. |
| Harry Jack — 11-Nov-2004 1.58 PM |
The diagonal tie-bars under the seat suggest where the centre of the seat - and the station name - would be, so the left end of the name might be somewhere down from the middle of the bowler-hatted gent. Scaling up from the depth of the seat back-board (six & a half inches) suggests a length of about six feet.
A similar seat on Wolverton station had a name recess 3ft 4ins long for its nine letters, so it looks as though the name on this seat could have as many as 16 letters, or letters and between-word spaces. So, a longish name, or two or more words: something ROAD perhaps? |
| Jack Walne — 11-Nov-2004 5.12 PM |
| Tattenhall Road, perhaps? But the building seems a bit too big. |
| Mike Barrett — 11-Nov-2004 7.55 PM |
| If the photo is of the station staff it is not a very large station. Greenfield or Leigh and Bedford? Is the gentleman standing extreme right wearing an LNWR hat? He has an LNWR overcoat but the hat looks unfamiliar. |
| Harry Jack — 11-Nov-2004 11.35 PM |
| I’m pretty sure it isn’t Leigh & Bedford. Greenfield maybe, but what about Loudoun Road? Closed 1917, reopened 1922 as South Hampstead. |
| Jack Walne — 14-Nov-2004 9.57 AM |
| Harry Jack’s calculation of the length of the station name seems accurate within a character/space or two. The only names that I can think of that would fit that length are Leigh and Bedford (17) (or Leigh & Bedford - 15), Tattenhall Road (15) and Llanbister Road (15). Loudon Road is not long enough and perhaps outside the range of Isle of Man advertising. Coundon Road and Betley Road might advertise the IoM but fall short of the probable number of characters. |
| Harry Jack — 14-Nov-2004 2.55 PM |
| Leigh & Bedford can definitely be excluded because of its wooden platforms and absence of roof-pillars. There’s an IoM poster visible on a pre-WW1 photo of Hampstead Heath station, and I can’t help thinking No 21 is perhaps at South Hampstead, although confirmatory photos of the platforms there are elusive. If it is South Hampstead, the date would have to be 1922 or early 1923; going by family snaps I think those wide flat caps fit this period. |
| Hugh Gillies-Smith — 19-Nov-2004 10.01 AM |
I don’t think it is Leigh and Bedford because like someone else has noted there appears to be a wide formation on the left and a covered footbridge; hence my thinking behind Lancaster as a possible location. I remember alighting from a train at Leigh in 1965, when a trainee land surveyor for British Railways Estate Department, and also getting the job of colouring up the land plan of the Bedford Branch. I’m sure that only two running lines passed through the Station and as it was on an embankment I think the platforms were connected by a subway.
The people opting for Llandudno Junction do have a point as there is indeed a wide formation between the island platforms and a covered footbridge.
However, it certainly isn’t Tattenhall Road. I live 5 miles from there and made a number site visits in recent times over concerns about troublesome encroaching neighbours before I said ‘cheerio’ to Network Rail, last year. Although any protection there may have been in place for the passengers has been removed I think the roof in the photograph is far too large. |
| Mark Armstrong — 21-Nov-2004 11.15 PM |
| Is the centre poster really for the IOM? In the bottom right hand corner could that not be the tail end of {Cambr}ian Rail{way}? Also the bench is on quite a steep slope, on some sort of ramp. I like the idea of it being Llandudno, but surely the bench name panel is too short for a nine letter place, such as Llandudno? |
| John Alsop — 22-Nov-2004 9.57 AM |
| Apart from the end letter being wrong for Earlestown, the supporting columns at that station have decorative banding, around 5 circles, at about waist level on my Edwardian postcard. |
| Harry Jack — 22-Nov-2004 7.14 PM |
I wondered if the centre poster might be OBAN, with {Caledon}ian Rail{way} underneath. The station isn’t Leigh & Bedford - there were no roof-support pillars there, and the platforms were wooden.
South Hampstead seems possible, though I can’t find any confirmatory photograph of the platform buildings. If so, it would have to be dated 1922 or early 1923. |
| Mike Barrett — 26-Nov-2004 4.46 PM |
| Could this be Macclesfield? I believe it was jointly staffed with a predominance of NSR employees. Are these the LNWR contingent? |
| David Patrick — 26-Nov-2004 10.58 PM |
| The station in question appears to have an overall roof, this should cut the choice down. How about Huddersfield. It certainly looks gloomy enough, and from my memory it had a collection of wooden buildings on the Leeds-bound side platform and this would fit if one assumes the view is taken looking towards Manchester. |
| Peter Goode — 04-Jan-2005 11.27 PM |
Not really related to the photo, more an interest in the Edwardian postcard of Earlestown, that John Alsop mentions.
I have an interest in local history of Earlestown, Newton Le Willows.
There is a picture of Earlestown Junction c1914, which shows the bridge mentioned as being a possible for picture 19, clearly showing that it is not the same structure.
http://tinyurl.com/5qgdl is this the same picture ?
If not would it be possible for me to have a look at the postcard ? |
| John Alsop — 21-Feb-2005 2.01 PM |
| Looking at an early post card of Stafford suggests to me that it is a possible location. The size of station would be about right, although the posers are clearly only a small section of staff there. The group would be facing one of the bays. |
| Ted Talbot — 07-Apr-2005 10.21 PM |
| I can see why Stafford is thought to be the location (the footbridge in the middle distance on the left would certainly fit), and if correct, the men are facing the bays at the south end of platform 1. (The bays are still there but now have only one track running into them). However, I am not sure whether the style of the base of the column on the left is correct for Stafford. |
| Paul Clarke — 03-Jul-2005 7.43 AM |
| A possibility is Macclesfield Hibel Road, the photograph being taken on the South side of the station, on the up platform looking North. Photographs of this area are difficult to find, so its hard to be sure. The square columns are correct and the round column in the background would fit those used on the North side of the road bridge. This area was not the usual one chosen for group photographs, the preference being the wider down platform looking South. |
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