About the Trust
Our Origins
Carlisle Waverley Viaduct Trust was incorporated as a company on 2nd July 2015 and registered with the Charity Commission on 25th July 2016. Burnetts’ Solicitors of Carlisle, a supporter of our cause, provided free advice and set up the trust without charge, for which the directors are extremely grateful. The trust began in 2010 as a sub-committee of Sustainable Carlisle after a petition produced over two thousand signatures.
A Brief History
For forty years, following closure of the Waverley Line from Edinburgh and a short spell serving a MoD maintenance unit during 1970, the viaduct was open (but not a Public Right of Way). Communities on both banks of the river Eden used it extensively: local residents, walkers, fishermen, dog-walkers, joggers and others, including rambler associations.
The viaduct is a substantial and majestic listed structure dating from 1861. In 2009 health and safety concerns led Department for Transport (DfT) who own it, to erect unsightly steel barriers at both ends. This curtailed its many years as a public asset. As current owners, the DfT have a responsibility to maintain it in a safe structural condition. A comprehensive structural survey has just been completed and a programme of work is about to commence. As at March 2024 this is expected to take around 2 years. Work will include waterproofing the deck and reinstatement of metal railings both sides for its full length. This will mean that the unsightly steel barriers will be removed.
The viaduct carried the ‘Waverley Line’ from Carlisle to Edinburgh across the River Eden to the west of Carlisle from 1862 to 1969 when it was closed due to the Beeching cuts. It is a listed structure. Since the 1960s the area to the south of the viaduct has become the ‘Engine Lonning Nature Reserve.’ Prior to that it was the site of engine sheds. Used for maintenance, supply and servicing of rolling stock, the sheds were situated between the Silloth Line and the Waverley Line.
Early Years
We’ve pulled together a short video covering our early years
A message from our Patron Eric Robson
Eric Robson Broadcaster, Patron of the Wainwright Society
Support
We have had a great deal of support for our mission over the years. We have collected a large number of letters and notes from individuals. Local organisations have also expressed their support and in some cases donated to our cause. Because of our privacy policy, we have decided not to publish all letters from individuals online unless we have their individual permission. As at 1st May 2021 we had 22 letters from local organisations and 139 letters from individuals.
