Boot is an isolated settlement high in the hills of the Esk valley. It has a resident population of between 10-14, but that number is swollen by visitors and day trippers, who arrive on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway.
Iron ore was discovered here and a railway was built to carry the ore to the sea. The mine was never very profitable and closed by 1913. The manager’s house is now the post office and shop. The cottages attached to it were miners cottages.
The C17th packhorse bridge crosses the Whillan Beck and leads to “Eskdale Mill”:https://www.eskdalemill.co.uk/, built in 1578 to mill oats and barley. Later it was mainly used for wheat.
This is the last remaining working water mill in the Lake District and still has many original features, although it now has a modern steel waterwheel set among the trees away from the buildings. This also supplies electricity to the National Grid.
There isn’t a lot to do once in Boot, but it is a lvelyt area with some good walking if time allows.
