Bar Review The Junction

To coincide with our feature on the struggles facing pubs in Otley and across the country, Tom Goodhand visits one real ale pub that seems to be thriving

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Otley is a town that’s blessed with an awful lot of pubs (or I guess that could be a curse, depending on how you view it). Every corner you turn in the small town centre, you come across one, but unfortunately an ever-increasing number of them are closed down.

However, wandering into The Junction on the busy Bondgate Road, it shows no sign of being in financial strife. It’s barely touched 5pm on a midweek night and already it’s more-or-less standing room only. It’s noisy as you walk in, but it’s not because a jukebox is blaring out the latest hits, nor is sport booming across from speakers attached to a big screen. The noise comes only from the healthy hubbub of people having a good time in a good pub.

This is real traditional old pub. The floors are tiled, the beams are exposed and a fire roars in the middle of the only room. Tables are scattered around the edges with open flooring in the middle giving ample room for standing.

The most impressive feature of The Junction, though, is the bar. Or, more accurately, what can be bought from behind the bar. There are a whopping 11 real ales to be tried from the handpull pumps, selling old favourites like Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and Theakston’s Old Peculier plus a range from the best brewery’s around the country.

This is a bar set up for people who enjoy and savour their drink, rather than those who merely enjoy getting pissed. Alongside the impressive beer range are some 30 quality whiskies that aficionados would really enjoy sampling. In the fridges there are no cheap, lurid-coloured alco-pops, or luminous shots. They discourage drinking anything that can be downed quickly, because they realise that it’s that kind of drinking that causes problems, rather than the steadied pace appreciation of quality beverages.

You can’t help but feel that the homely, well-maintained yet traditional décor and focus on quality should mean that, should the number of pubs in Otley keep decreasing, this pub will last out for a long time to come.

Posted on Friday 11th December 2009

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