Engine Lonning is a 10.1 hectare semi-natural, council-owned Green Space on the south bank of the River Eden in Carlisle. It is mainly woodland with some grassland glades, but has a rich heritage and story to tell.

The name hints at railways forming part of that story, and indeed it is the site of a former bustling rail yard and includes one end of the now-closed Carlisle Waverley Viaduct that crosses the river.

Before that the site included part of the 10-mile-long Carlisle Ship Canal – now infilled and part of the (wet) woodland. Its heritage dates back to the Roman era, encompassing the course of Hadrian’s Wall and its associated National Trail. A network of PRoW, permissive paths and informal trails criss-cross the woods.

Planned path improvements and new interpretation for the site will exist beyond the life of the four-year project allowing subsequent generations of local families to get to know and use the site.

Events, capital work and volunteering activities undertaken during the project will focus on engaging long-term local beneficiaries, volunteers and project partners, working with Eden Rivers Trust (on rivers) and with Carlisle Waverley Viaduct Trust (on railway history and conservation).

Spring 2025 Update

The focus for engagement in the Spring has been ‘Hidden Histories’. We’ve been gaining knowledge, ‘uncovering’ and celebrating the site’s recent industrial railway heritage. Over 104 people attended a very popular drop-in event to share stories of the sites railway heritage and discuss plans for its future.

Three gentlemen who attended had, as young men, worked at Canal Yard (as it was known in its heyday as a busy steam train engine yard) until the day it closed in June 1963. They delighted in being reacquainted and recounting stories of their days there. Making this initial contact is key to preserving aural histories of this era.

Two ‘Hidden Histories’ volunteer events on site were well attended, with thirty-six local people of all ages coming out to help uncover the past – as we removed vegetation from around the built heritage, uncovering, for the first time, a brick floor that was a part of the main engine yard building. Passers-by expressed interest, one of whom had also worked at the site until its closing day.

Our work with Beaumont College (SEND) has continued at Engine Lonning, with the Outdoor Adventure Group embracing the site and getting stuck into a mix of vegetation clearing and ‘uncovering the past’.

As a result of the planned activity and infrastructure improvements to the site within the Access to Eden project, Engine Lonning has now been identified as one of seven key sites along the length of Hadrian’s Wall that would form part of the Borderlands Project.

Connections have also been made with Tullie House, Carlisle’s museum and art gallery, who have a permanent Roman Frontier Gallery, and exhibits about Carlisle’s social history and local biodiversity. Through working together are ensuring that the interpretation at Engine Lonning connects with Tullie – and vice versa, which will ensure better connectedness and be a lasting legacy.

Following a talk about our project at the annual Cumbrian Recorders Conference, we have had interest from biodiversity recorders to come and survey Engine Lonning which we have discovered is a County Wildlife Site.

We’ve delayed work on an accessible trail following a report of Great Crested Newts (GCN) in a field adjacent to the site. Fantastic news of course but this will require the site to be surveyed by an ecologist which has now been commissioned and is due to start surveying in April 2025. The GCN surveying season runs from April – June so we hope that work on the trail can get underway in Autumn 2025.

In pictures…

Thank you

This project is supported by the Access to Eden: breaking barriers, building bridges partnership project led by Eden Rivers Trust with a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks also to Cumberland Council for their support via the West Carlisle Community Panel and the Ernest Cook Trust.