Otley’s famous pubs are ready for the unique Pub Nations celebration, with all the town’s pubs and bars renaming themselves and adopting the colours and flavours of their adopted nation to celebrate the UCI Road Cycling World Championships, taking place in Yorkshire.
Yorkshire 2019, starts this weekend on Sunday 22nd September and takes place over 8 days, with the finale being the final day of the men’s elite race on Sunday 29th September. The women’s and the men’s elite road races will both pass through the centre of Otley, on Saturday and Sunday the 28th and 29th of September and locals and visitors alike will cheer their ‘home nation’ as they pass through!
To celebrate Yorkshire 2019, Otley’s pubs and bars will go by the translation of their name into their adopted nation’s language (which will provide a challenge for some of the pub names!) and a flag of each nation will be hung on the outside of the pub. The new names will be displayed for the whole of the Championships, which are based in Harrogate with routes all over the county. The Pub Nations celebration is officially supported by Otley Town Council who’ve contributed to the event.
The Embassies and Consulates of all the nations taking part have been contacted and many have sent information about their country and sent best wishes. The Czech Republic Consul General, Ivo Losman, actually visited Otley and the Czech pub, the historic Red Lion, which for the duration of the event will be the Červený Lev!
Many of the participating pubs and bars (and two cafes!) are offering themed food and drinks and some are putting on special events.
- Many of the participating pubs and bars (and two cafes!) are offering themed food and drinks and some are putting on special events.
- Tuesday 24th September – Bloomfield Square cafe (Eritrea) will be showing the film Time Trial Entry to the film, which offers insight in the world of pro cycling through the eyes of David Millar the only British rider to have worn all of the Tour de France jerseys, costs £10 and includes a number of other cycling shorts (facebook.com/Bloomfieldsquare). Eritrean cyclist Awet Habtom who has competed for the northeast African country in the UCIs will be leading a rideout from the café alongside owner Tony Wright’s brother, Michael (time and date tbc).
- Thursday 26th September – A barrel of Paulaner beer from Munich will be tapped live in The Curious Hop (Germany) – der Kuriose Hopfen – and served in litre steins with pretzels and German snacks, to celebrate Oktoberfest as well as the bar’s twinning with Germany. [Tickets only, available from the Curious Hop]
- Friday 27th September – Former World Champion cyclist Johan Museeuw – nicknamed The Lion of Flanders – will be leading a ride from Harrogate’s Belgian pub The Corner Haus to North Bar Social (Belgium) and will be renamed The Flemish Lion in Johan’s honour. The Belgian legend, and representatives of VisitFlanders, will be greeted by Otley Town Mayor, Councillor Peter Jackson with refreshments provided by local prosecco and deli bar O’Deli and funded by Otley BID.
- Saturday 28th September – Stew and Oyster (USA) – is open from 10am Saturday serving breakfast and coffee and Sunday for the men’s race at 8am serving breakfast and coffee and our Otley brewed A.P.A Ghost brewed by Otley based Shadow Brewing.
- Saturday 28th September – The Black Horse Hotel (Italy) – Il Cavallo Nero – now owned and refurbished by Kirkstall Brewery, will also be hosting a rideout at 10am in honour of the women’s elite race at as well as having a Magic Rock Brewery tap takeover. Pizzas will be on the menu all week, and the chef will be producing a special chicken Saltimbocca meal [date and time tbc]
- Saturday 28th September – drinkers at The Cross Pipes (The Netherlands) – de Gekruisde Pijpen – will be outside wearing the orange colours of the Dutch team as the women’s elite race goes right past their front door.
Licensee Mel Green and Malcolm Hughes from The Black Bull – El Toro Negro – met with Otley Pub Club’s mascot, Mr Pinty, this week to help put up Spanish flags and the pub’s new name!
Otley is one of the towns in the country that has boasted the highest number of pubs per head of population and currently has 24 pubs and bars for a population of around 15,000.
There is a long tradition of renaming Otley’s pubs for special occasions, from Royal Weddings and Jubilees going back to the 1980s, in 2014 when the Tour de France ‘Grand Départ’ passed through the town and last year, 2018, for Yorkshire Day.
As well as being a famous pub town, Otley is also a famous cycling town, being the home of Otley Cycle Club, a hub for cyclists riding from Leeds and Bradford to the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors and the home town of former World Champion and Olympic silver medalist Lizzie Deignan. It was dubbed the ‘cycling capital of the UK’ by ITV commentators at the 2018 Tour de Yorkshire and, in recognition of that epithet, a specially commissioned piece of field art bearing the legend Otley Cycle Town will be displayed in Grove Hill Park (corner of A659 and A660), to be seen during both the men’s and women’s elite races.
Otley Town Mayor, Cllr Peter Jackson (and former licensee and Chair of Otley Pub Club) said:
“The Pub Nations celebration is a great way to celebrate Otley’s reputation as both a famous pub town and a famous cycling town! On behalf of the town and Otley Town Council I wish a very warm welcome to visitors from all over the globe and suggest to everyone travelling to Yorkshire for Yorkshire 2019 that they take the opportunity to visit Otley and its famous pubs! It will be a great week and I will be joining people cheering on the riders and visiting the Pub Nations!”
Bob Brook of Otley Pub Club, who is Event Coordinator of the Pub Nations project said:
“After a lot of planning and hard work, it’s great to see the Pub Nations event all coming together. There’s been a great response from embassies, consulates and tourist boards, and Otley’s pubs and publicans are enthusiastically embracing their new nations. Many are ordering food and drink from their nation, as well as putting up flags and planning wearing national costume or colours.
“We hope many visitors come to Otley during Yorkshire 2019 to join in the Pub Nations celebration and have a drink and a bite to eat in their favoured nation – or several – and that it is a real celebration of cycling, Yorkshire, international friendship and the great British pub!”
Cllr Paul Carter, Chair of the Otley Town Council Trade and Tourism Committee said
“It’s wonderful that once again we have a world class cycling event in Yorkshire and coming through Otley. With the town famous for cycling and for its many pubs, Otley Town Council are delighted to support Otley Pub Club’s Pub Nations celebration during Yorkshire 2019 and we hope the whole town and visitors will join in the week’s events!”.
- In the Photograph are:
- Mel Green and Malcolm Hughes, from the Black Bull
- Mr Pinty, Otley Pub Club mascot
- Allocation of nations and translations of names (where the main language is English or the nation has more than one official language, the name will remain in English)
- BELGIUM NORTH BAR SOCIAL The Flemish Lion
- FRANCE THE OLD COCK Le Coq Âgé
- ITALY THE BLACK HORSE Il Cavallo Nero
- SPAIN THE BLACK BULL El Toro Negro
- NETHERLANDS THE CROSS PIPES De Gekruisde Pijpen
- UK THE BOWLING GREEN (Not required)
- COLOMBIA THE ROYALTY La Realeza
- AUSTRALIA THE FLEECE (Not required)
- DENMARK THE OTLEY TAVERN Otley Kroen
- GERMANY THE CURIOUS HOP Der Kuriose Hopfen
- SLOVENIA THE ROSE & CROWN Vrtnica In Krona
- POLAND THE BAY HORSE Gniady Koń
- SWITZERLAND THE JUNCTION (Not required)
- NORWAY THE ROEBUCK Roebucken
- AUSTRIA WHITAKERS ARMS Whitakers Wappen
- CZECH REPUBLIC THE RED LION Červený Lev
- SLOVAKIA THE ROOKERY Hniezdo
- IRELAND THE MANOR HOUSE An Teach Mainéir
- PORTUGAL THE YEW TREE Árvore De Teixo
- CANADA GROOVE PAD BEER & VINYLS Caveau De La Bière Et Des Vinyles
- NEW ZEALAND THE WHITE SWAN Te Manu Ma
- USA STEW AND OYSTER (Not required)
- LUXEMBOURG THE OTLEY TAP HOUSE La Maison Du Robinet, Otley
- SOUTH AFRICA THE HORSE & FARRIER (Not required)
And the following three asked to be involved –
- ERITREA BLOOMFIELD SQUARE ኤርትራ
- RUSSIA FALCON CLUB [No name – flag and bunting only]
- ITALY #2 ! O’DELI [No name – flag and bunting only]
- Otley Pub Club is a non-profit organisation run completely by volunteers who want to maintain the reputation of Otley as a ‘famous pub town’, by helping all the pubs keep open and trading. Otley was once regarded as the town with the most pubs per head of population in England, and still has 24 pubs and bars serving a population of around 15,000. Otley Pub Club has a current mailing list of over 600 members and over 1,900 followers on Twitter and they put on projects that help to raise the profile of Otley in the media, as well as bringing visitors and tourists into the town.