The old LSWR shed was badly in need of rebuilding.
Peter Kerslake says "Situated between Friary station , the Southern terminus at Plymouth , and its larger Western Region Depot at Laira the little shed seen here at Friary was set high above Tothill Park , just visible on the extreme right of this view , and provided " end of the line " facilities for Southern Region locomotives working down to Plymouth via the North Cornwall lines together with those coming via Okehampton from Exeter.
My grandparents lived in one of the many houses seen here in the background , and I have very early memories of seeing from their upstairs windows strange looking locomotives moving in and around Friary Depot some distance away which were , of course , " Westcountry " and " Battle of Britain " Bulleid " Pacifics " , but I would have been too young to have understood what it was all about at that time ! "