Location

Where are We?

The viaduct is located next to the Engine Lonning Nature Reserve

Nature and Sustainable Transport Links

There are four nature reserves in the area sited on or adjacent to ex-railway land. Three of these are north of the river and the fourth is Engine Lonning. Investigating and interpreting the industrial remains on these sites would add much more interest for locals and visitors alike.

Re-opening the viaduct as a footpath would link the four together. In addition fishermen, dog walkers, runners etc. could once more easily access the footpaths on both sides of the river and, with the opening of the Carlisle bypass, a reasonable length circular route will be possible.

The other benefit would be that residents of Etterby and Belah to the north, residents of Newtown and Bellevue in the west, and the Cumberland Infirmary (a major employer) would be able to commute easily and quickly via a traffic free route between north and west.

Woods and Nature Reserves Nearby

The map below shows the proximity of Engine Lonning to two other nature reserves – Kingmoor Sidings Nature Reserve and Kingmoor Nature Reserve.

Explore some images of the Kingmoor and Sidings Nature Reserves below

Then and Now

The area we now know as Engine Lonning has a long history. Bordered to the north by the River Eden, Hadrian’s Wall passes through here, built by the Roman Emperor ‘Hadrian’ to help protect the civilised world from the barbarians of Caledonia. Nowadays the national trail Hadrian’s Wall path follows the line of the wall from Wallsend in the east to Bowness on Solway in the west. A more recent development was when they built the Carlisle Ship Canal between 1817 and 1823 to connect Carlisle with the Solway at Fishers Cross (Port Carlisle).

By the 1830s the railways arrived replacing the canal at its closure in 1863. From that time until the 1970s the area developed into a railway maintenance depot (The Canal Yard) for the servicing, maintenance and repair of steam locomotives. Hence the name Engine Lonning. Two new railway lines passed through here from Carlisle, the Silloth line and the Waverley Line to Edinburgh. In the 1970s with the Beeching cuts all rail activity ceased. The area was cleared and Engine Lonning Nature reserve was born. For more detailed historical information on Engine Lonning and The Canal Yard, see the pages below the maps.

You can compare the 1880s map of Engine Lonning to the 2024 satellite map by using the slider below.