Tracking rail relics - Bass Reflections
Bassenthwaite Reflections
One of the Lake District’s best known and widely used low level routes is getting a boost thanks to new panels revealing a wealth of history and wildlife.Keswick railway path - which attracts tens of thousands of users - will boast a series of 10 new boards detailing the glorious age of steam right through to present riverbank restoration.
Heritage Lottery Fund supported Bassenthwaite Reflections has paid for three sets of panels. They will be placed along the 10 kilometre Keswick to Threlkeld trail, which can be extended to take in the famous Castlerigg Stone Circle.
Produced by the Lake District National Park, which looks after the popular path, information about the old railway, which opened in 1864 and had brought half a million people to Keswick by 1913, makes compelling reading.
Walkers, cyclists, wheel and push chair users can also learn about the wild antics of navvy track layers, discover remaining rail relics along the long-closed line and indentify river flora and fauna along the way.
Head of community landscape programme Reflections, Martin Varley said the intention had been to tell as comprehensive a story as possible.
He explained: “Along a relatively short distance there is a huge amount of heritage. We’ve included a section about bobbin making, once a thriving Lake District industry, and how you can discover signs of the old Keswick to Penrith line.
“The thousands of local people and visitors who enjoy this renowned railway route will hopefully have a much better and more enlightened experience, thanks to the panels. There is an amazing amount to see and think about.
“Seventy years ago, the railway would have bustled with business from nearby Briery Bobbin Mill. It produced 40 million bobbins a year at its peak, enough to make a line stretching more than 800 miles.
“We hope people will enjoy reading about the past and present and it will encourage them to help protect our precious landscape.”
The new panels will be going up during the summer holidays.
For more information about Reflections go to www.bassenthwaite-reflections.co.uk (opens in new window).
Bassenthwaite Reflections is a Heritage Lottery funded programme. Reflections partners are made up of Environment Agency, Lake District National Park Authority, National Trust, Forestry Commission, Grampus Heritage and Training and Cumbria County Council.
For further information on any of the 22 projects in the Bassenthwaite Reflections Programme, contact Karin Crofts on karin.crofts@environment-agency.gov.uk or 017687 74785.
