Cowran Bridge above the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway

TAKE ACTION · TWO MESSAGES

Help protect the Cowran Group

A few minutes can help. Write to two people with the influence to ask for a conservation-led future for Cowran Bridge, Cowran Cutting and Skellion Bridge.

Write to Network Rail Write to the Rail Minister

YOUR PARTTwo short messages

THE ASKRebuild · Conserve · Record

STATUSGrade II listed

THE PRINCIPLESafety + conservation

WHY WRITE NOW?

The permanent answer has not yet been written in stone.

The failed south-east approach wall at Cowran Bridge remains absent. Network Rail’s current proposal is still palisade fencing at that corner — even though the Group is now nationally listed.

The campaign is not asking for safety to be compromised. It is asking for the engineering solution to begin with the significance of the historic asset and to retain or recover its fabric wherever reasonably possible.

RebuildThe missing bridge wall in stone, reusing suitable surviving masonry where practicable.

ConserveThe three surviving approach walls and the historic revetment walls through appropriate repair.

RecordCreate a detailed, location-referenced baseline of Cowran Cutting before further repair or alteration.

Respect the GroupBridge, cutting and Skellion Bridge should be managed as the connected work recognised by listing.

Read What Happened →

Fallen masonry from the collapsed Cowran Bridge approach wall — Substantial masonry from the collapsed wall remains among the vegetation above the railway, August 2026.

WHY THE POSITION IS DIFFERENT NOW

Listing changed the ground rules.

The 2024 palisade scheme was designed before the Cowran Group received national protection. Grade II listing does not prevent necessary safety or engineering work, but it means the significance and surviving historic fabric must now be part of the solution.

THE LEGAL CONTEXT

The listed fabric now has statutory protection.

Historic England has confirmed that Cowran Bridge’s approach or wing walls are described in the List entry and mapped, and that works to them require Listed Building Consent from Cumberland Council.

More widely, work affecting the character of the listed Cowran Group must be considered within the listed-building regime. That makes a fresh, post-listing assessment of permanent interventions essential.

Listing is not a ban on engineering work. It is a requirement to integrate conservation with legitimate operational and safety needs.

BUILD THE EVIDENCE

Record it before changing it.

Before further repair or alteration of Cowran Cutting, the present state of its historic revetment walls should be comprehensively recorded. A location-referenced photographic baseline would allow later changes to be identified rather than guessed at.

surviving historic stone and missing blocks;
cracks, open joints, bulging or displaced masonry;
earlier brick repairs and other material changes;
vegetation affecting fabric or inspection visibility.

A proper baseline would help Network Rail, Cumberland Council and heritage bodies distinguish conservation, repair and loss — and provide an auditable record for the future.

“

MAKE IT YOURS

Please don’t feel you have to send the words exactly as written.

The templates below are there to make writing easy. A sentence or two in your own words can make the message more personal and more persuasive.

Say why you careRailway history, local heritage, conservation or simply good stewardship.

Keep it courteousThe aim is to persuade decision-makers to reconsider the permanent solution.

Add your locationIt helps show that concern extends beyond the immediate neighbourhood.

NETWORK RAIL

Richard George

Chair of Network Rail. The Chair leads the Board of the organisation that owns, operates, maintains and develops Britain’s railway infrastructure. This is an appropriate place to ask for the permanent treatment of Cowran to be reconsidered at the highest level. Network Rail Board →

HOW TO SEND ITNetwork Rail official contact form
Open contact page →

OR WRITENetwork Rail
Waterloo General Office
London SE1 8SW

Network Rail does not publish a direct email address for its Chair on its public contact page. Use the official contact form and ask for your message to be passed to Richard George, Chair of Network Rail. The template is written to him directly.

Network Rail’s own CP7 heritage guidance is now included in the message. It calls for heritage significance to inform change, planned condition and repair work, statutory procedures, action on heritage at risk, and the creation of records and an archive. Read the CP7 policy →

Suggested subjectCowran Group, Cumbria — request for conservation-led repair

Dear Mr George,

I am writing to ask Network Rail to secure a conservation-led future for the Cowran Group on the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway in Cumbria.

Cowran Bridge, Cowran Cutting and Skellion Bridge were listed together at Grade II on 4 November 2025, recognising their architectural, historic and group value. The south-east approach wall at Cowran Bridge collapsed onto the operational railway on 1 July 2023. Network Rail's emergency response called for a “design led solution to rebuild”, but a later scheme proposed palisade fencing and, originally, removal of the three surviving stone approach walls.

Network Rail has since said that those three remaining walls have been evaluated, are regarded as stable and will be examined annually. At the failed fourth corner, however, permanent palisade fencing remains the proposed response.

Listing changed the statutory context. Historic England has confirmed that Cowran Bridge's approach or wing walls are described and mapped in the List entry and that works to them require Listed Building Consent from the local council. Any further intervention to the listed historic fabric should therefore be developed within the current heritage and consent framework, rather than simply carrying forward a pre-listing solution.

Network Rail's own CP7 Buildings and Architecture Policy provides a useful published framework for this. Its heritage-assessment guidance says the significance of heritage assets should be taken into account when planning change, calls for regular condition surveys and planned repair and maintenance, says to “Secure heritage at risk”, requires statutory procedures for heritage work to be followed, and says to “Create records and an archive”. I ask that these published principles now be applied explicitly to the Cowran Group.

I fully recognise the need to keep a working railway safe. But safety and conservation need not be alternatives. I ask Network Rail to ensure that:

• reconstruction of the collapsed wall in stone is properly reconsidered, reusing suitable surviving masonry wherever practicable;
• the three surviving approach walls and the historic revetment walls of Cowran Cutting are conserved using appropriate materials and methods;
• a comprehensive, location-referenced photographic baseline of the present condition of Cowran Cutting's walls is created before further repair or alteration, recording surviving stone, missing blocks, cracks and open joints, earlier brick interventions and vegetation;
• post-listing works are developed with Cumberland Council and relevant heritage bodies, with the necessary consents obtained before works affecting listed fabric proceed; and
• the bridge, cutting and Skellion Bridge are managed as the connected historic engineering Group recognised by the listing.

Cowran has survived as a working railway structure since 1836. I would be grateful if you would ask for the permanent treatment at the failed corner, and the future repair strategy for Cowran Cutting, to be reviewed before irreversible work is undertaken.

Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR TOWN / COUNTY]

Open Network Rail contact page

Tip: if the contact form asks for a category, choose the closest option for a comment, suggestion or infrastructure concern, then ask for the message to be forwarded to the Chair’s office.

DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill

Minister of State for Rail. His responsibilities include rail policy and infrastructure. He is also a former Chair of Network Rail and has longstanding involvement with railway heritage organisations — making the conservation principle at Cowran especially relevant. Official GOV.UK profile →

EMAILlord.hendy@dft.gov.uk

POSTGreat Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London SW1P 4DR

Suggested subject: Cowran Group, Cumbria — request for ministerial support for conservation

Ready to personaliseA separate message for the Rail Minister

Dear Lord Hendy,

I am writing to ask for your support for the conservation of the Grade II-listed Cowran Group on the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway in Cumbria.

Cowran Bridge, Cowran Cutting and Skellion Bridge survive together as an exceptional piece of pioneering railway engineering from 1836. The south-east approach wall at Cowran Bridge collapsed onto the operational railway on 1 July 2023. Network Rail's emergency response called for a “design led solution to rebuild”, but its later permanent scheme proposed palisade fencing and, originally, the removal of the three surviving stone approach walls.

The position has since changed. Network Rail told Julie Minns MP in July 2026 that the three remaining walls have been evaluated, are regarded as stable and will be examined annually. Yet palisade fencing remains proposed at the failed fourth corner rather than reconstruction of the missing stone wall.

The Cowran Group was listed at Grade II on 4 November 2025. That designation did not remove Network Rail's responsibility to operate a safe railway, but it changed the statutory context in which the permanent solution must now be considered. Historic England has confirmed that the Cowran Bridge approach or wing walls are part of the listed asset and that works to them require Listed Building Consent from the local council.

As Minister for Rail, with responsibility for rail infrastructure, and with your own longstanding involvement in railway heritage, I ask you to encourage a fresh, post-listing review of the permanent solution. In particular, I hope you will seek assurance that reconstruction in stone is fully considered, that suitable fallen masonry is reused where practicable, and that the surviving bridge and cutting walls are conserved through an agreed heritage-led repair programme.

I also ask that a comprehensive, location-referenced photographic baseline of the present condition of Cowran Cutting's revetment walls is created before further repair or alteration. Such a record would identify surviving historic stone, missing blocks, cracks and open joints, earlier brick interventions and vegetation, allowing future changes to the listed fabric to be traced properly.

Cowran offers an opportunity to show that nationally important railway heritage can remain part of a modern operational railway without unnecessary loss of historic fabric. I would be very grateful for your support.

Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR TOWN / COUNTY]

Open email to Lord Hendy

The email address above appears on official ministerial correspondence. The email button opens a new message with the suggested subject; paste the copied text into the body and personalise the ending.

Contact details checked 21 August 2026.
Political and organisational roles can change. The page links to the official Network Rail and Department for Transport routes so details can be rechecked when necessary.

DETAILS CHECKED · 21 AUG 2026

ONE LAST THING

Two thoughtful messages are more useful than twenty angry ones.

Thank you for helping make the case that a working railway can be safe, modern and still conserve the historic fabric from which Britain’s railway story began.

Read The Campaign Explore the evidence →The Grade II listing →

The permanent answer has not yet been written in stone.

Listing changed the ground rules.

The listed fabric now has statutory protection.

Record it before changing it.

Please don’t feel you have to send the words exactly as written.

Richard George

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill

EXPLORE

CAMPAIGN

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Take Action

Help protect the Cowran Group

The permanent answer has not yet been written in stone.

Listing changed the ground rules.

The listed fabric now has statutory protection.

Record it before changing it.

Please don’t feel you have to send the words exactly as written.

Richard George

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill

Two thoughtful messages are more useful than twenty angry ones.