Our second day on the road, and we were all a little quite after Saturday’s run at the beer festival.
A lazy wake up, was followed by a wonder around the town of Otley, which is delightful for its architecture, history, range of ‘open’ shops and depending on your humour, street names – being the only place you can surely walk down Gay Lane, for a drink from the Old Cock, followed by a nibble in Tittybottle park – like I say, it depends on what makes you grin!
The beautiful Wharfe river flows through the south side of the town, with a weir, that creates a pond, which ducks, swans and other foul enjoy to the fullest. A new housing estate has taken the opportunity to install two Archimedes’ screws to provide renewable energy to the area. Sadly, these were not in operation on the day we explored, but it was good to see this type of development.
Walking up the north bank of the river to Tittybottle park, the stone structure of the ancient 1228 bridge can be fully appreciated and photographed. The eastern part dates back to 1228, when the Archbishop of York, titular Lord of the Manor of Otley, had it built to provide a more direct route to York. ref: https://www.visitotley.co.uk/history-heritage/monuments/
A stroll around the town revealed a good selection of vibrant independent shops, bars, pubs and Inns. The most noteable to me being the The Black Bull, which it is believed is the oldest pub in Otley and allegedly drunk dry by Cromwell’s troops on the eve of Marston Moor. http://www.otleypubclub.co.uk/otley-pubs-present/the-black-bull