Otley Outing

 Wednesday 15th November 2023.             Otley Outing 

Today’s adventure for the Lads would be a visit to the North Yorkshire town of Otley situated astride the river Wharfe. It would be a group of six that would take a bus ride from the city of Leeds to this old market town. Those catching the X 84 bus would be Derek, Dave, Colin, John, Brian and guest visitor John Emmonds, upon arrival at the bus station in Otley they would be met by Mark, he resides here in Otley and he would be in charge of proceedings for today’s adventure.

First port of call was to a town centre butchers shop to purchase a well renowned pork pie then on to a similar establishment to buy some similar meat products, from here we headed through the town passing a statue of Thomas Chippendale a former resident of the town and on towards the river, it was fast flowing at the moment due to the extreme rainfall over the last few days.

Situated close to the river bridge is a stone sculpture of the famous Wharfedale Press which is of significant importance to the town and surrounding industries.

Once at the riverside we would now follow the pathway that runs along side it , journeying for almost a mile or so enjoying the various group conversations as we strolled along, passing a structure named the Archimedes wheel some form of apparatus built to support the close by paper mill, soon we began our return journey leading us away from the river then join a main road heading back to the town centre.

Situated along this road was our intended destination of the Maypole Fisheries and partake in our lunch time meals, a lovely and pleasing establishment with delightful staff who served us with a most delicious meal.

From the fish restaurant it was a few minutes walk back towards the bus station here in Otley in order to take the 14:45 bus heading for Leeds , a journey time of some 40 minutes. So it was farewell to Mark and thank him for his leadership on today’s adventure as we climbed aboard the X84.

Once back in the city of Leeds , John Emmonds, Dave and John departed the bus leaving the other lads to continue their journey back to the bus station and then their respective onwards travel , John and Dave heading for the railway station and their respective trains etc.

Upon reflection today was a pleasurable experience with great company and friendship, a distance of just over 3 miles covered and the weather was kind to us.

Cheers Everyone.