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The Bobbin Mill Tunnel was originally one of the two tunnels on the Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith railway line and was dug through a spur on the banks of the river Greta. The line was closed in 1972.

In 1977, the Greta viaduct on the Keswick By-pass was constructed over the River Greta at a higher level, spanning the spur through which the tunnel was built. It was voted "Best Concrete Engineering Structure of the Century" by "Concrete" magazine.

Subsequently a path was constructed along the line of the old railway line from Keswick as far as Threlkeld. It was thought that the integrity of the tunnel might have been compromised by the viaduct construction and it was sealed off. An alternative route for the path was installed on a wooden walkway round the outside of the spur.

The walkway was destroyed by Storm Desmond in 2015. When the path was reconstructed, it was determined that the tunnel was safe after all and was incorporated into the path.

The path forms part of the C2C cycle route (National Cycle Network route 71) and is very popular with walkers and cyclists.

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