Otley Pub Walkers
Otley Pub Club has been leading a walk in the Otley Walking Festival for years. It was originally called the 4 pubs walk because it started at The Junction and called at The Royalty, The Half Moon in Pool in Wharfedale, and The Roebuck. After a few years we decided to create another 4 pubs walk, going West out of town this time instead of East. That walk is also now a stalwart of the walking festival, starting at The Fleece and visiting The Red Lion and The Hermit in Burley, then The Malt Shovel in Menston [or The Menston Arms] on the way home. To avoid confusion, the original walk is now called the 5 pubs walk [because it starts AND ends at The Horse & Farrier] and it visits the 3 out of town pubs in the opposite, clockwise direction. [Including The White Hart, since The Half Moon was converted to private housing!]
It was on one of these 5 pubs outings that someone asked the walk leader if we went on similar organised walks that visited pubs during the rest of the year. The answer was no at the time, but it did spark the idea that we could have a spin-off group from Otley Pub Club called Otley Pub Walkers.
We knew there were already several walking groups in and around Otley, but we thought the idea of calling at pubs on the way, or specifically choosing pubs to walk to, might appeal to a different group of people. We must have been right, because as well as having followers on our Facebook, Instagram and ‘X’ accounts we also have 49 members of the WhatsApp group that contains all our walk suggestions and plans.
Although maybe ‘plans’ does sound a bit formal for the way we have been operating so far! Anyone on the WhatsApp group can plan a walk and advertise it, but they have to be prepared to be walking on their own, or with a number of others, depending on who’s free and fancies joining them. If a few of us agree on a route far enough in advance, we can advertise it on social media and then absolutely anyone is welcome to join us. In those cases we will always try to give as much detail as possible about the walk and expected timings, so people will know whether it’s one they want to join or not.
We haven’t been doing a great number of walks towards the end of 2025, but whatever happens in 2026 we will at least try to keep people informed about our plans. One of the things we aim to do is photograph and record our walks in detail and publish them on the facebook page. [Maybe even start a website dedicated to them!] That way, people can try the walks for themselves if they aren’t free when we’re walking – which can be on any day of the week. It might also help them decide whether they want to join us in future, when they CAN make it.
We are always open to suggestions for walks – we tend to start most walks from Otley Marketplace but have been further afield on occasions. Two of the first walks tentatively planned for 2026 [maybe while the weather’s still unpredictable] are for Leeds and Bradford city centres. [Which won’t JUST be pub crawls, honest!] And anyone can join the WhatsApp group so they can tell everyone about their own walks at short notice. If you don’t want to share your input with everyone to start with, you can always email me at otleypubwalkers@gmail.com and I’ll help you out!
Bob Brook