The Otley Run in Leeds is famed as a sort of 'rite of passage' for students visiting or studying in the city. It's a whole day event following the Headingley mile into the city centre.
Originally known as 'The Headingley Mile', it is the largest pub crawl in Leeds, with 15 venues on the list. According to the official Otley Run website, the best time to start is around 3pm, giving yourself half an hour in each pub with a relaxed pace in between.
However, the crawl has an interesting history, having evolved over the years with many people claiming different endpoints compared to its genesis. One thing is true though, it starts at Woodies Ale House in Headingley and finishes at The Dry Dock in the city centre.
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Participants are often students from Leeds' multiple universities, and can often be seen in some form of fancy dress. The legacy of the Otley Run has since inspired beer bottle designs, artwork and even books about the subject matter.
But where did it all begin?
The history of the crawl
Earlier forms of the crawl originally covered a lot more of Otley Road. The original Otley run was set up when pubs opened for farmer's businesses in line with the 1964 Licensing Act, allowing Otley pubs to have opening hours similar to those of Leeds on market days.
The tradition was to start the Otley Run quite early due to old licensing laws that meant pubs and bars had to close in the afternoon. The tradition predated the 1988 Licensing Act repeal which saw this process removed.
With Otley being a market town it was exempt from the same laws as other towns. Under the provisions of the Licensing Act 1964, Otley's pubs were able to open at similar times to the city venues.
Over time the route began to change, adding more venues closer to the city. Tetley was a popular brewery in Yorkshire and because of their high number of pubs, venues such as The Oak Inn - now known as The Original Oak and The Woodman (Woodies) became a part of the crawl.
Students from the University of Leeds began adding union bars to the list, though at the time most of these required memberships for entry. Then once opening hours laws changed, more bars on the Headingley Mile started to be included which led to city-centre pubs making the list.
With the student population in Headingley continuing to grow and the closure of halls at Weetwood, Cavendish, Tetley and Bodington to make way for city-centre accommodation, and the Headingley Mile route became the more favoured option.
The pubs on the Headingley Mile route were also conveniently within the "Green Zone" for buses, meaning tickets were cheap. At the time, newly opened bars such as the Dry Dock filled the gaps, with The Fenton and other pubs close to the city centre fighting to be the official end point.
The Route as we know it today
- Woodies Craft Ale House
- The Three Horseshoes
- The New Inn
- The Headingley Taps
- Manhatta
- The Box
- The Skyrack
- The Original Oak
- The Hyde Park Pub
- The Library
- The Packhorse
- The Eldon
- Leeds University Union (Terrace or Old Bar)
- The Fenton
- The Dry Dock
With more and more pubs being added, the route went from being a small crawl, to an all-day affair, meaning punters would start the route earlier. This has faced criticism in recent years, upsetting locals and prompting some venues to turn away visitors in fancy dress or in large groups. When the Golden Beam, Wetherspoons was built on the former Lupton Centre site, the licensing application specifically stated that Otley Runners would be refused entry.
However, with 15 venues to attend that's hardly an issue, it just means the bus might be the best option as the walk in between The Original Oak to The Hyde Park pub can be pretty sobering. Good for some we suppose.
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