The discussion so far.....

Chester has been suggested but then rejected. Then the original enquirer suggested Hereford.

Another suggestion was Wolverhampton Stafford Road, because a photo of GWR '111' Class 2-4-0 no. 1009 in Part 4 of the RCTS GWR Locos series, plate D45, was taken alongside a shed which seems to be the same and is also reproduced in The GWR North of Wolverhampton by Keith Beck, pub by Ian Allan, where the caption states it is at Wolverhampton Stafford Road.

The suggestion was also made that both pictures were taken by Bleasdale, as the men in both pictures are arranged in the same sort of way, typical of Bleasdale's pictures.

John Alsop commented that it looks like the same place, but whether or not it is Bleasdale is another question. The LPC number is 9912 which is in the middle of the Pilcher cards.

David Postle of Kidderminster Railway Museum was then consulted. He is convinced that the location is not Hereford ("the LNW shed bears little resemblance to that in the picture") or Wolverhampton and suggests Shrewsbury shed. The building is shown in Plate 76 of The Railway Photographs of P. W. Pilcher by David J. Patrick.

David Patrick then wrote: "The print in Pilcher (which is in fact the coaling stage and not the goods shed as per the text - my mistake) does show very similar architectural features, particularly the tall narrow strengthening pillars in the brickwork, but I do not think it is the same building, as there is a large opening behind the tender of the Lady which is not there on the Lazonby print, and it also does not appear to be long enough but the similarity points to it being built by the same company, namely the Shrewsbury & Hereford. So I agree with Harry Jack that it could be the old S & H shed at Shrewsbury, which was demolished before 1877 as the LNW had by then opened their own shed more or less on the same site. The GWR had also built their own shed, adding the roundhouse in 1883. What happened to the engines whilst both companies were rebuilding their sheds is not made clear - according to the GW shed book, they were barely on speaking terms at this particular period. My money is therefore on the old Shrewsbury S & H shed, the demolition accounting for the lack of further photographs. It also explains why prints of the two companies' engines were photographed at the same location, it was used jointly until it was replaced by the separate sheds.