Clifton (Otley): what to know before moving day
Clifton Lane still shows its medieval layout, with long strips of land called tofts running back from the houses, and all seven listed buildings in the parish are in the village. They are gritstone farmhouses and cottages with stone slate roofs and mullioned windows, several with date stones: Fairfax Cottage 1604, Sundial Farmhouse 1637, which has a sundial on its gable, Well Farmhouse 1641, Old Hall Farmhouse 1647 and Cherry Tree Farmhouse 1717. In houses of this age, check door and stair widths before booking bulky furniture.
The village pub is the Roebuck, a building of 1752 licensed from 1852 and known locally as The Spite, after a feud with the Travellers Rest, which opened in 1853 and is now private houses. The hamlet of Copmanroyd, recorded in the Middle Ages, survives as a few buildings on a road east of Newall Carr Road.
How the van gets to Clifton (Otley)
Newall Carr Road is the way up. It runs north from Otley Bridge through Newall and on into the country, with Clifton Lane branching off into the village and Roebuck Lane beside the pub. Dob Park Road carries on north from Clifton, and Moor Lane links across towards Weston. From Bradford the A6038 brings the van into Otley, then over the bridge.
The drive from Bradford is roughly 30 to 45 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.
Services for Clifton (Otley)
Each service below links to its Otley page, which covers how the job works in and around Otley.
Clifton (Otley): questions before you book
Why is Clifton in North Yorkshire when Newall went to Leeds?
Because only Newall moved. Newall was taken into Otley in 1903 and went with it into Leeds in 1974, but Clifton stayed in the parish, which went to Harrogate district in 1974 and to North Yorkshire Council in 2023.
Is the Roebuck the same pub people call The Spite?
Yes. The Roebuck is known locally as The Spite, a name that comes from its old rivalry with the Travellers Rest, where landlords refused customers seen in the other pub.
Where the local details on this page come from
Checked on 28 September 2026 against:
- Postcode lookup (postcodes.io, ONS data): LS21 2HE is in Washburn & Birstwith ward, North Yorkshire, parish of Newall with Clifton
- Newall with Clifton (Wikipedia): parish two miles north of Otley, main settlement Clifton, Newall now in West Yorkshire, Newall Carr Road north from Otley Bridge, 147 people in 2011, Copmanroyd, 1903 transfer of Newall to Otley, 1974 and 2023 changes, tofts behind the houses on Clifton Lane, the Roebuck (1752, licensed 1852) called The Spite, the Travellers Rest (1853, now dwellings)
- Listed buildings in Newall with Clifton (Wikipedia, from the National Heritage List): seven Grade II buildings all in Clifton village, gritstone and stone slate, Fairfax Cottage 1604, Sundial Farmhouse 1637, Well Farmhouse 1641, Old Hall Farmhouse 1647, Cherry Tree Farmhouse 1717
- OpenStreetMap: Clifton Lane, Roebuck Lane, Copmanroyd, Dob Park Road (way 4948307), Moor Lane (way 4520634), Newall Carr Road (way 42681667), The Roebuck (The Spite)