Red Lion

The Red Lion was an accidental stop off point for me from my last shopping trip in Otley. I was utterly desperate for the toilet before my twenty-​five minute bus ride home to Leeds and so went in search of a small café. I had assumed, since Otley is full of those, that I wouldn’t be caught short but it seems after four ish (even on a Friday) the majority of said cafes like to shut shop! Literally no one was open.
So, in my desperation I decided to nip into a pub and this was the first to hand. I went in and was ready to cringe at the bunch of local crusties who’d wonder what a random girl was doing drinking on her own, but was pleasantly surprised. Sure enough I got a few looks but most people just got on with their conversations. I had half a coke served by a lovely lady, and it was a real coke — none of that pretend stuff — served in a fresh glass with ice. Lovely.
I finished it in time for a quick toilet trip and made it to my bus with five minutes spare! All good. I know you’ll be thinking that purchasing more liquid seems like not such a good antidote to my original problem but, fortunately on this occasion, it was all good. I am one of those idiots who just can’t go in an use the facilities without buying something! (More the fool me, I know…)
Anyhow. Red Lion? Really quite homely and nice.

Apparently The Red Lion is infact the most popular pub name in Britain. Therefore, a trip to Otleys example was essential. I heard it had shut down (which has been confirmed by Alex K.) but reopened after it was inevitably realised that closing down a Red Lion what with its cultural value is a sin.
Its reputation as Otleys most famous pub did not hinder its ability to please me. With entertainment provided by the pool table (I won, making my trip ever so much better) and a selection of Timothy Tailors and John Smiths on tap, as well as the usual suspects, there was something to please everyone I went with.

There’s a Red Lion in almost every town in Britain it seems, and so is the case for Otley.
As one of the town’s most famous drinking holes, it came as a bit of a shock when this place closed down a year or so ago. It didn’t make sense that the pub in Otley with the best location in town should shut down, but it happened.
Thankfully, it reopened after a few months and kept Otley in the «my town’s got a Red Lion gang». Bang in the middle of Otley, on the main road through the town, it sits next to another pub and is like any other Otley pub to the untrained eye (mine).
This means that it does a few real ales (the pick of which is Black Sheep), is usually more likely to be full of older locals than young drinkers, and has a fairly friendly Yorkshire atmosphere. It’s far from the best pub in the town, but I don’t think it will be shutting down again any time soon.