Campaigners lose battle to save 'unique' Victorian timber canopy over railway footbridge in Beverley

Network Rail wants to make “significant strengthening” and alterations to the Grade II listed bridge at Beverley Station, which is “structurally failing”, and says its removal is “unavoidable”.

The North Eastern Railway footbridge is likely to have gone up in 1884, with the distinctive canopy - the only example of its design - added around five years later. There were objections from Beverley Town Council, Beverley Civic Society, local residents, national amenity societies (Historic Buildings and Places) and others.

However Historic England raised no objections in principle.

Phil Davison was the only councillor to speak against the move at an East Riding Council planning meeting on Monday, noting comments from Historic England that it had been in place for 130 years with “no noted failures”. He said: “I can’t accept this is a great plan - it isn’t - it’s a destroying plan.”

However committee chairman Sue Steel said they weren’t experts or engineers, and they’d been told that even with strengthening and renovations it may not take the weight of the canopy, posing a risk to users and rail passengers.

Afterwards chairman of Beverley Civic Society Dick Lidwell expressed disappointment, saying its planned replacement was “utilitarian and obnoxious: “It’s a very disappointing outcome to have a bridge that looks exactly like the one at Cottingham Station, which is a disaster. I think with a bit of imagination they could have come up with a much better solution. I think it is a very poor decision for the Beverley conservation area and a Grade II listed structure.”

Both the North Yorks Moors Railway and the National Railway Museum declined the canopy as it would be counter-productive to cover their own footbridges, which are used as vantage points to view and photograph trains.