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Revealing the past at Engine Lonning, Carlisle

12/12/2024

We joined Cumberland Council to lend them a helping help to clear vegetation around footpaths steps and hidden historical railway infrastructure.

A group of three volunteers holding spades are standing next to a cleared section of stonework forming part of a former railway turntable.

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A band of volunteers (from ERT and Cumberland Council Greenspaces) scraped, cut, shovelled, thwacked and cleared vegetation and leaf-litter to help uncover some of the hidden history of Engine Lonning’s heyday as a Railway Engine Yard. The large turntable, was first on the list and everyone got stuck into that one!

A large group of volunteers with spades are clearing undergrowth from a woodland site to reveal artefacts linked to a railway yard once active on the site.

A circular section of stone revealed by the clearance of undergrowth. This was the outer ring of a railway turntable once in use on the site.

Then, while most of the group worked hard to clear some of the paths, a few turned detective, unearthing rails from the lines, a section of the brick floor inside the engine shed, and some beautiful sandstone blocks from the walls; some of which may be re-purposed into seating, signage and interpretation, helping bring the site’s industrial history to life.

A volunteer holding a stone brick with the word Whitehill stamped onto its surface.

A section of brickwork visible after clearance of undergrowth from this site.

Sections of obsolete railway track half buried in soil. Part of a railway track leading to a rail yard once active on the site.

Volunteers stood next to a section of brick flooring unearthed during undergrowth clearance work. This would have formed the floor of a former rail yard building on the site.

Volunteer with ERT

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