Community groups have welcomed work to restore a historic railway bridge at Musgrave, following its controversial infilling in 2021.
National Highways buried the attractive masonry arch at Great Musgrave in 1,600 tonnes of stone and concrete despite inspection reports describing it as being in Fair condition, with only a few minor defects. The structure was repointed in 2012, restoring its capacity to 44 tonnes, but the state-owned roads company claimed it was weak because a number of mortar joints had reopened.
A request from the now-defunct Eden District Council not to start infilling was rejected by National Highways and the scheme went ahead under emergency permitted development rights that only last for 12 months. A retrospective planning application for the infill’s retention was turned down in June, 2022, and an enforcement notice subsequently issued for its removal.
The work has to be completed by 11th October and the vital road over the bridge has been closed until then, prompting complaints locally about disruption to nearby communities and farms. For larger vehicles, the diversionary route between the bridge’s two ends – which are just 30 yards apart — involves a journey of almost 14 miles.
“It’s good to see this sorry saga slowly coming to an end”, says Mike Thompson, project manager for the Stainmore Railway Company, one of the heritage operations affected by the infilling. “But we have some concerns about what happens next. Specialists in masonry arch structures assure us that Great Musgrave bridge had a capacity of more than 44 tonnes before infilling, but we expect National Highways will strengthen it anyway, just to make a point.
“On the old railway from Penrith to Keswick – which has been proposed for reopening for many years – they carried out two other bridge infill schemes in 2021, using steel arches to form a passageway through the concrete for the track. But the arches aren’t big enough for trains, so if the line is ever relaid, the structures will have to be rebuilt. That would obviously be a problem if they did the same thing at Great Musgrave. The opening beneath the span must be returned to its original size.”
National Highways’ head of the historical railways estate Hélène Rossiter said: “Britain’s railway heritage is a cherished part of our cultural history. National Highways is proud of our role in preserving the Historical Railways Estate for the nation. We are making steady progress at Great Musgrave Bridge, where we are removing the fill material from under the bridge.
“This is a delicate process restoring the bridge to its previous condition and, once complete, we will re-point the arch, assess the structure alongside the Highways Authority and carry out additional necessary strengthening work so the bridge can continue being used safely by the public.
“We’d like to thank the local community in Great Musgrave for their patience while we are working on the bridge. We’ll keep listening and responding to local community needs to inform our decisions on our management of the Historical Railways Estate.”
