Otley Run
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The Otley Run is a pub crawl in Leeds, West Yorkshire. It takes place along the A660, which is known as Otley Road at the point the pub crawl begins, hence the name. It has a large student following, with many from Leeds Uni, Leeds Met and a few of the colleges in the city attempting it on most nights, apart from university or college holidays when the number is much lower. It is a popular form of 'social' for sports clubs and other societies, and a common birthday/end of exams celebration activity. Groups of participants often have fancy dress themes, and can be easily spotted by their costumes.
The rules
Groups attempting the Otley Run often follow a set of rules. Some common examples include:- A pint in each pub (usually lager or Snakebite, sometimes with 2 double spirit breaks)
- Minimum 2 units of alcohol of anything
- Females can have half pints or a single unit
The route
Depending on the route taken the Run can vary between 11 and 21 pubs, starting at Woodies in Far Headingley and finishing in the city centre. Most people start the Otley Run in the afternoon between 2pm and 5pm, as this is the easiest way to fit all the pubs in before closing time (even with 24 hour drinking).
- Woodies Ale House, Far Headingley
- The Three Horseshoes, Far Headingley
- The New Inn, Far Headingley
- Arcadia Ale & Wine Bar, Headingley, Arndale Centre *
- Headingley Taps, Headingley *
- Trio, Headlingley *
- The Arc, Headingley *
- The Box, Headingley *
- The Skyrack, Headingley
- The Original Oak, Headingley
- The Hyde Park, Hyde Park Corner
- The Library, Woodhouse Lane
- The Packhorse, Woodhouse Lane
- The Eldon, Woodhouse Lane
- The Old Bar, Leeds University Union
- The Terrace, Leeds University Union
- The Fenton, Woodhouse Lane
- Strawberry Fields, Woodhouse Lane
- The Dry Dock, Woodhouse Lane
- Met Bar or Met Club, Leeds Metropolitan University Students Union
- A City Centre Club
Trivia
- Woodies Ale House was regularly featured on the 2000-2005 ITV1 / Yorkshire Television drama Fat Friends.
- For a period in the 1990s The New Inn was known as O' Hagans New Inn and had an Irish theme when there was a fad for Irish theme pubs in the mid 1990s in England.
- The Arcadia Ale & Wine Bar was the first solely non smoking pub in the Leeds area when it opened in April 2004. [BBC Article]
- The distinctive architecture and the name of "The Headingley Taps" comes from the fact that it was formerly the local water pumping station for the area.
- The Original Oak and The Fenton are the only pubs along the Otley Run route that continues to have the typical Tetleys pub sign writing that was commonplace across Leeds until the 1990s.
- The Library on Woodhouse Lane was formerly known as the Feast and Firkin which was part of the Firkin Brewery chain. It is now part of the It's A Scream chain alongside The Dry Dock that is owned by Mitchells and Butlers.
- The Dry Dock was a gravel barge known as Lambda which was taken to the present site opposite Leeds Metropolitan University's Civic Quarter Campus in December 1993. [Image and description on Leodis]
External links
See also
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