Otley Run

The Otley Run is a pub crawl in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The pub crawl was commonly known as the Headingly Mile prior to the Otley Run. It was historically a mile stretch of Tetley pubs leading in to Leeds City Centre. Over the years more pubs and bars have opened stretching it over more than a mile. The route follows the A660, also known as Otley Road at the point the pub crawl commonly begins. The Otley Run is a popular social gathering for student clubs and societies from The University of Leeds, Leeds College of Music, Leeds College of Art, Leeds Trinity University, Leeds Beckett University and The University of Bradford Hockey Club ^[1] and is also a common activity for birthdays and other celebrations^[2] among graduates and city residents.^[3] Participants often wear fancy dress^[4] and coordinate their costumes to a particular theme. It is also traditional for students of the local Notre Dame Sixth Form College to do the Otley Run on their last day, as well as students from Otley's Prince Henry's Grammar School Sixth Form, with their run usually including various pubs and bars around Otley as well as the traditional Headingley Mile destinations.

History of the route

Early incarnations of the Otley Run route covered considerably more of the Otley road and followed it closely. This route extended beyond Weetwood, Lawnswood, Adel, and sometimes to Otley in north Leeds, passing through Headingley, past Woodhouse Moor, and on to Woodhouse Lane and the Students' Union buildings on the outskirts of city centre at its south end. Starting points this far north were in keeping with the location of popular student residences such as Devonshire Hall,^[5] Bodington Hall, and Oxley ^[6] and were popular with student sports societies thanks to the proximity of playing fields at Bodington Hall and to Weetwood Pavillion.^[7] After the closure of Weetwood, Cavendish, Tetley, and Bodington Halls and the opening of others closer to the city centre the popular route moved south of the original. The availability of cheap "Green Zone" ^[8] bus tickets has also been cited as an influence.

The modern Otley Run route shares many venues associated the "Headingley Mile" (the section through LS6 from Woodies' Ale House in Far Headingley to the Hyde Park Hotel), and many city centre bars and club nights are in competition to be the official end point ^[9] - often making these claims at the same time. Followers of the modern run often start early to allow time to visit as many venues as possible, a practice which has caused some pubs to turn away visitors in fancy dress and in obvious large groups.

The route

Depending on the route taken, the Otley Run can include 18 drinking establishments,^[10] namely:

1. Woodies Ale House, Far Headingley

2. The Three Horseshoes, Far Headingley

3. The New Inn, Far Headingley

4. Headingley Taps, Headingley^{[note 1]}

5. Trio, Headingley

6. The Arc, Headingley^{[note 1]}

7. The Box, Headingley^{[note 1]}

8. The Skyrack, Headingley

9. The Original Oak, Headingley

10. The Hyde Park, Hyde Park Corner

11. The Library, Woodhouse Lane (formerly Feast and Firkin)^{[note 1]}

12. The Packhorse, Woodhouse Lane

13. The Eldon, Woodhouse Lane

14. The Old Bar, Leeds University Union^{[note 2]}

15. The Terrace, Leeds University Union

16. The Fenton, Woodhouse Lane

17. Strawberry Fields, Woodhouse Lane

18. The Dry Dock, Woodhouse Lane

Other university pub crawls

• Whiteladies Road, Bristol
• Campus 14, Nottingham
• Micklegate Run, York^[11]
• Subcrawl, Glasgow Subway
• The Claret Run, York
• Smithdown Road, Liverpool, Liverpool
• The Lumley Run University College, Durham

Notes

References

Coordinates: 53°49′14″N 1°34′37″W / 53.8205°N 1.577°W / 53.8205; -1.577