Fire at Birmingham Lawley Street Depot, May 1937

A black photograph album made from black A4 card, bound with two metal ring clips. A white label has been adhered to the bottom left corner of the front cover and bears the handwritten reference “Misc/015” in black ink. The inside of the front cover bears an NRM library sticker affixed to the top-left corner, which highlights that the album was donated to the National Railway Museum in April 1988 by Mr Leslie Billingham of British Railways. The album contains small monochrome prints documenting the fire at the LMS Birmingham Lawley Street Depot in May 1937. The photographs record various stages of the incident, including the blaze itself, firefighters tackling the fire, the destruction it caused, and the people present, notably firefighters, railway workers, and spectators. The sequence also documents the aftermath, showing the site at different points following the fire, the extent of the damage, and the progress of the clearance operation. Each photograph is accompanied by a handwritten annotation in white ink identifying its subject and, where applicable, the time at which it was taken. The album also contains several loose prints, housed together in a small Melinex sleeve, which further document the fire at Birmingham Lawley Street Depot. In addition, there is a loose white business card inscribed: "British Railways. London Midland Region. L. Billingham. Goods Agent, Lawley Street Station, Birmingham."