A transformation has taken place at Engine Lonning, a woodland green space in the heart of Carlisle.
Cumbrian conservation charity Eden Rivers Trust (ERT) has been working with the community and landowner, Cumberland Council, to install a new accessible path, rest places, signage and interpretation, celebrating the natural, railway and Roman heritage of the site.
Pathways have been upgraded, making it easier for people with pushchairs and wheelchairs to use and enjoy the site, and new seating created for people to rest-a-while.
Sculptural elements have been installed around the trail, highlighting the historical and social significance of the site as the former ‘Canal Shed’ locomotive (rail steam engine) yard and its position alongside the Hadrian’s Wall Path, now part of the Coast-to-Coast walk. Mosaics have also been created and placed around the walk to celebrate the abundant wildlife that has recolonised the site, now a much-loved city green space and wildlife haven.
Lengths of railway track, kindly donated by Network Rail, have been bent and shaped to create waymarkers around the trail route in a ‘nod’ the ‘Canal Shed’, active at Engine Lonning for nearly a century, servicing steam and latterly diesel locomotives until the late 1960’s.
These waymarkers and other metalwork elements around the route have been sculpted by Chris Brammall, a Cumbrian artist regarded as one of the UK’s leading metalworkers based in Ulverston.
Harvey Hamilton-Thorpe, CEO at Eden Rivers Trust said,
“The railyard at Engine Lonning is an integral part of the local community’s history and heritage. Generations of family members will have been employed at the site and many memories shared.
“We are so pleased that with the donation from Network Rail and the metalworking skills of Chris Brammall, we have been able to acknowledge this in such an innovative way.“
Eden Rivers Trust is hosting a ‘Discovery Day’ at Engine Lonning on Sunday 6th September from 12pm to 4pm, putting on an afternoon of free activities and an opportunity to explore the trail and find the mosaics, stone and metalwork pieces celebrating the sites wild woodland and its rail and Roman history.
Visit ERT’s website for more information about the new trail and its Discovery Day. https://edenriverstrust.org.uk/projects/engine-lonning/
The work at Engine Lonning has been supported by the Access to Eden: breaking barriers, building bridges partnership project led by ERT with a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
