My copy of the "Gossipy Guide to the English Lakes...", though a product of London publisher C. Arthur Pearson, has the name of the "Wordsworth" Book Store at Keswick on its title page. Also, as with quite a few other guide books, the date of publication is carefully omitted, though it seems to be about 1902. I should perhaps confess that this guide makes such frequent use of bold and italic print that I decided not to bother trying to reproduce these features.


HOTELS AND TARIFFS: ESKDALE
[R=bed-room; SR=private sitting-room; b=breakfast; l=lunch; d=dinner; t=tea; a="attendance"]
Freemason's Arms, Boot: R, 1/6 to 1/-; b, 1/- to 1/6; d, 1/6; 1/- to 1/6
King of Prussia: Pension, 5/- per day
Stanley Gill: R, 2/- to 3/-; b, 1/- to 2/-; l, 2/- to 2/6; t, 1/-; d, 3/- to 3/6; a, 1/- to 1/6
Woolpack: R, 2/- to 4/-; SR, 2/6; b, 1/- to 2/-; l, 2/- to 2/6; t, 1/- to 2/-; d, 2/6 to 3/-; a, 1/-

... at Esk Meals and Ravenglass the mountains of Wastdale Head and Eskdale assert themselves in distant magnificence. Ravenglass itself is a primitive little fishing village on the curious, land-locked estuary by which the united waters of the Esh, the Mite, and the Irt (from Wastwater) find their way into the Irish Sea.

Ravenglass to Boot.
(a) The little "toy" railway from Ravenglass to Boot was constructed for the conveyance of haematite ore ; and though the quarrying of the latter in Eskdale, we are glad to believe, has long ago come to an opportune end, the line is still utilised summer and winter, for the conveyance of goods and passengers. The gauge is narrow; and the arrangements are very primitive. From Ravenglass the line runs up the north side of Muncaster Fell, a typically rocky outflank of Lakeland, having on the left the green expanse of Miterdale, hacked by the tame side of the Wastwater Screes. At, or near, Esk Green Station, it crosses the low neck which at this point separates Miterdale from Eskdale, and from here to its little terminus at Boot, keeps on the north of the latter valley. The latter part of the journey is exceedingly beautiful.

(b) The road to Boot keeps to the other side of Muncaster Fell, and follows the valley of the Esk throughout. On the way, it passes near Muncaster Hall (Lord Muncaster), where a cup is preserved which is supposed to he involved in the good luck of the Pennington family just as the a Luck of Eden Hall" is in the fortunes of the Musgraves. It is supposed to have been given to Sir John Pennington by Henry VI., in recognition of his having sheltered that hapless monarch at Muncaster, probably after the battle of Hexham in 1464.

Boot itself (Inns: Freemasons' Arms, in the village; Woolpack, a mile up the valley; Stanley Gill, near Beckfoot Station; King of Prussia, about two miles down the valley) is an ideal centre for those who wish to explore one of the wildest and most beautiful valleys in Cumberland, and at the same time to escape from the fashionable environment of Windermere, Grasmere, or Keswick. It is also the centre from which to visit two waterfalls- Stanley Gill and Birker Force- the former of which, in connection with its immediate surroundings, is generally considered the most beautiful cataract in Lakeland. A number of excursions may be made in the neighbourhood (1) to Wastdale Head, 6 miles, by Bummoor Tarn. (2) To Esk Falls, about two miles up a rocky valley, through the bottom of which the Esk glides beneath overshadowing crags, or slumbers in deep and placid pools, almost with the beauty of the Duddon. From the falls- a series of broken cataracts- the adventurous tourist may continue his way to the summit of Scafell, Scafell Pike, or Bowfell, or may climb over the col hetween the latter mountain and the Crinkle Crags to Dungeon Gill in Langdale. (3) By the Hard Knot Pass (1,290) Cockley Bock, at the head of the Duddon valley, may be gained by a rough road in about 5 miles, and thence the Duddon may be descended to Broughton-in-Furness (12 miles further) in time to catch the last train home to Boot in the evening. (4) The foot of Wastwater- the proper point from which to approach this wildest and most solemn of all the English meres- may be reached in about 8 miles from Boot, by very fair road, by Eskdale Green and Santon Bridge.

From Ravenglass it is only a mile on to Drigg, the nearest station to Wastwater and Wastdale Head. Public conveyances, however, to these places, run only from Seascale the next station.