If you have approached Eskdale from the Hardknott Pass, you will be very conscious of the changes in scenery as you drop down into this green valley. The Duddon Valley, which you will have come through between the Hardknott and the Wrynose Passes, is wide, bleak and open. The Esk valley is far more wooded and sheltered. You may well hear the nostalgic sound of a train whistle and the puff of a steam locomotive as you get further into the valley - but more of that later.
First you come to the little village of Boot with its friendly pub and a fine water mill restored by the Cumbria County Council. There has probably been a mill on this site at Eskdale since the 13th century, although there is no actual documentary evidence of its existence until the Great Survey, for the Percy family who owned vast estates, tells us of its being. Commercial milling of corn ceased in the 1920's although the millwheel was used to generate electricity for the occupants of the Mill House until as late as 1955, the year when mains electricity came to the valley.
Taken over by Cumberland County Council in 1972, the mill was opened to the public in July 1976.
Visitors can see the mill as it was when it actually worked, as well as other displays. No-one would pretend that many of the labourers or rural workforce had an easy life in times gone by. But at least there must have been compensations in working in a waterpowered mill in the middle of beautiful countryside, rather than in a grimy factory with coal and steam driven machinery pounding in your ears and choking your lungs all day.
During your time at the Mill you will have probably heard the trains again. If you drive a little further down the road you will come to Dalegarth Station - a name straight out of Tolkien. This is a terminus for the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway (or 'T' laal Ratty" as it is affectionately known), Originally a narrow gauge railway built to haul iron ore to Ravenglass, it is now one of the best known and loved small railways In the whole country. One of its main advantages is that you can join at more than one place along the track and leave at others. So many small railways just do a quick trip between two places or else a loop that takes you straight back where you started from. Good if you are a steam  enthusiast and nothing else, but if you enjoy combining walking, picnicking and rail travel, then this is the railway for you.
A favourite day for our family is to leave the car at Dalegarth  station, walk a little way back up the road towards Hardknott, and then take a track on the right down to St. Catherine's Chapel. Here, water level permitting, you can cross the river on stepping stones - usually passable (but and   we have been thwarted once after heavy rains), and turning right you walk down stream through fields and woods on a well defined footpath until you join the road just below the King George lV pub. Here you can enjoy excellent bar snacks and enjoy good beer. Depending on the weather you can eat and drink  either inside or outside the pub.
All this time you will have heard the hooting of trains and caught the occasional glimpse of one through the trees. Now is the time for a ride, so walk on up the road from the pub and you will come to The Green station. Here you can board a train when it comes (fares are collected by the guard) and travel gently back to Dalegarth.
See the Ravensglass page for another way of enjoying the railway.