Junction Inn, Otley

The Junction is separated from Korks Wine Bar by an Indian restaurant. This is a nice looking stone built corner pub. Once inside there is a small snug to the front left,the main bar room is oblong shaped and runs to the rear of the pub,,the serving bar is on the left side,there is comfy bench seating running down the right side,there was also a real fire on the go which was nice on a cold wet day. There was a very good choice of real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Leeds Yorkshire Gold which went down very well in a nice warm pub,the other beers i noted were York Ghost Ship,Hop Back Summer Lightening,Taylor Landlord / Best Bitter,Theakston Best and London Pride. I was quite happy and comfortable drinking in this pub. Pub visited 8/11/2014

One of several pubs and bars along Bondgate, the Junction Inn is a pleasant pub with brick floor, lots of dark beams and exposed stone walls combining to create a cosy, traditional feel. You enter into the main bar area, with a small snug immediately to your left with a few seats and access to the bar. To the right, a long, sweeping banquette curves around the front corner and runs a fair way into the main part of the pub, accompanied by standard chairs and low stools. There are a lot of horse riding items such as saddles and stirrups hanging from the beams above in this room, which was a bit of an unusual feature. Further into the room, a large stone pillar marks the mid section of the room which has more banquette seating, some very attractive large black and white photos on the walls, lots of horse brasses, a Black Cat Cigarettes mirror, a collection of bottles on a high shelf and a lit fireplace on another wall which obscures the rear section of the room. To access this section, you have to pass beneath a wonderful curved wooden beam, before emerging into an area dominated by another long curved banquette underneath a large, plain mirror and some modern wallpaper made to look like bookshelves. On the left side, just past the end of the servery, the room extends into a small recess which houses a couple of fruit machines and a great collection of Hendricks' gin Bottles. There is a nice garden to the rear with plenty of picnic benches and some old enamel beer adverts attached to the perimeter fence. With several new pretenders on the scene, the Junction can be viewed as one of the town's real ale stalwarts and even now, the selection is up there with the best the town can offer. The options on my visit were Ilkley Mary Jane, Wychwood Dogs Bollocks, Fullers London Pride, Theakston Lightfoot, Best Bitter and Old Peculiar, Taylor Best Bitter and Landlord, Hop Studio XP and Acorn Gorlovka Stout. The barmaid was a bit brusque, but she served up a fantastic pint of the Mary Jane, so I quickly forgave her. This pub was absolutely heaving on my Saturday evening visit, creating a lively atmosphere reminiscent of a traditional rural pub. If there had been a spare seat free, I could have happily settled down and spent the evening here. I thought this was one of the highlights of my crawl around Otley and would not hesitate to recommend it.

The only GBG listed pub in Otley, although that is likely to change with the new additions in the town, some may be disappointed by the lacklustre range of beers however no such quibble would apply to the quality. There are 11 handpumps serving a choice of widely available ales from Taylors, Theakstons, the Marstons stable and Deuchars, I had a much rarer for Yorkshire Youngs Winter Warmer which was very good but just a touch cold. The single T-bar is tucked away on the less used side of the barcounter. An old building but I felt it tries a little too hard to be a characterful ale house, the décor pushes all the buttons with a tiled floor, tongue and groove to the dado with faded paper above carrying the usual old photos. There are some horse brasses and quite a collection of horse tackle, the odd drinks mirror, distressed sewing machine tables and faux victorian lamps with inappropriate energy saving bulbs. Having said that it's a reasonable place for a good quality pint.