Our cottages and Boot Village – the ideal location for a family holiday to explore the Lake District
We have 3 large cottages sleeping from 8 to 10 guests and 2 smaller one bedroom cottages ideal for families with babies or toddlers into which we can put a fold away bed and/or cot. Dogs welcome too.
Our large paddock is an ideal play area and place to relax with a barbecue. Watch the children enjoying their games or play along too surrounded by gorgeous nature and the Cumbrian fells. Alongside our paddock, we also have a riverside picnic spot where you can sit with a coffee or glass of wine listening to the sound of the gently tumbling Whillan Beck stream whilst the children enjoy throwing in some sticks and watching them float away.
The village of Boot has two excellent child and dog friendly pubs – a mere 1 minute and 3 minutes stroll from our cottages. Fine Cumbrian Ales, a legendary beef and ale pie, lots of daily specials, fish and vegetarian dinners, children’s menus plus eye watering desserts.
For rainy days we have Sky TV with full children’s and movie channels, plenty of great and unusual board games for all the family along with the traditional family favourites for our guests to spend quality holiday time together as a family.
Just across the incredible 17th Century packhorse bridge which is right next to our Bridge End Farm Cottages is Eskdale Mill. The mill is now a museum, everything still works and it is a real education for the whole family to see how milling was carried out as well as a really interesting historic journey through milling and farming in the Western Lake District. There are lots of stunning old photos and a gift shop. Entrance is very reasonably priced and there is a discounted family entrance fee too. We highly recommend spending an hour (or more) looking around Eskdale Mill.
An amazing stream train journey with the family through the Western Lake District.
Just 400 metres from the cottages is the amazing Ravenglass and Eskdale narrow gauge railway colloquially referred to as “Laal Ratty” – ‘laal’ meaning small in Old Norse and a throw-back to the times when Cumbria was settled by the Vikings – talking of which there are two stunning old Viking Crosses locally in Gosforth and Irton churchyards – both about 15 minutes from us and which are well worth seeing. The train is a miniature steam train and is a must do experience. At the Dalegarth for Boot station there is the ticket office, gift shop and café along with a great little play area and the fascinating turntable to turn the engines around before their return journey to Ravenglass.
It really is a fun trip for the whole family, dogs are welcome on board too. In the summer ride in the open air carriages with the rustling wind blowing through your hair – the fresh Lake District air highlighting your sense of freedom and escape from the city! In the winter choose one of the quaint heated indoor carriages. There are a number of stops where you can alight and go for a hike or to one of the pubs in Eskdale Green or the Eskdale Stores. At the end of the line after an exhilarating journey of 40 minutes the train arrives in Ravenglass which was an old Roman port used to bring wine, food and other supplies for the Roman garrison stationed at Hardknott Roman Fort high above Eskdale on Hardknott Pass. The railway connects with the mainline and some intrepid guests come all the way to us by train taking the mainline and then Laal Ratty to Boot. Also in Ravenglass is an excellent café, play area and fascinating museum of the railway with lots of incredible old photos from the days when it was used to transport the iron ore extracted from the fells around Boot.
The train timetable can be found here.
If you are fit, take the 15 minute walk on the footpath beside the road to Muncaster Castle -another fantastic family excursion – the walk is slightly uphill on the way there and downhill on the return. Or do the castle as a separate trip – it’s only 15 to 20 minutes drive from Boot
The enchanting River Esk
Just 10 minutes walk from Boot taking the lane opposite the Brook House Inn across the valley is the River Esk. The historic St Catherine’s Church right beside the river has a fascinating graveyard and it is from here you can do the walk to Stanley Ghyll waterfall. There are stepping stones across the river for the brave to cross in the summer or when the river is low – if not passable, then 200 metres upstream is Girders Bridge – built for when the train came to take iron ore from the fell beside the River Esk – keep your eyes peeled for red squirrels in the woodlands around the river. There are gentle walks along both sides of the river and our favourite is to walk up one side of the River Esk crossing Doctor Bridge and returning past the secret tarn (small lake) in the woods back to St Catherines Church. In summer play with the children in the rock pools of the River Esk building dams and throwing pebbles. They will remember these simple delights – lifetime memories will be made of having family fun in glorious Eskdale.
