Keswick Railway Bridge Replaced

A Victorian railway remnant from the great age of steam has been replaced with a new structure set to take hundreds of thousands of walkers on their journey. The decrepit 1865 bridge on the Keswick railway footpath has given way to a purpose-built link designed to give easy access to the route's users, including cyclists.

Costing around £31,000, work on the latest construction was carried out by the Lake District National Park Authority northern operations field team, which included Threlkeld-based apprentices.

Working on the bridge

The new bridge completed

Lake District National Park Authority field worker Kris Bratton explained that seven of the eight bridges on one of the most heavily-used paths in the area have now given way to purpose-built structures:

The new bridges make it easy for people to use this beautiful path, so whether they are in wheelchairs, pushchair users or have limited mobility; it's possible to enjoy this beautiful and historic part of the Lake District.

We don't know exactly how many people use the permitted path, but it must be hundreds of thousands annually. One of our biggest difficulties was redirecting large numbers of people to a temporary bridge while we were working on this replacement.

We hope visitors and local people will enjoy the new, easy access bridges.

The Keswick railway footpath features on our walk The Old Keswick Railway Line and Latrigg and also Walla Crag and Castlerigg Stone Circle which uses the railway line path to return you to Keswick from the stone circle.

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