This awesome little butchers is a longstanding provider of meat here in Otley, and it's no surprise…read moresince they're proud enough to shout about it in their window signage - winning pork pie and sausage championships from 2004 - 2008! The chaps in there are really friendly and the whole place has that down to earth counter service approach with a whole variety of meats to choose from. Not exactly something a vegetarian might be impressed with but then again when it comes to ethics it's not exactly of the wasteful mass produced supermarket ilk, is it? As well as a range of delicious meats they also sell fresh local milk and a range of delicious sandwiches for your lunch. Only thing I'm not too keen on the idea of is a pork tongue salad... but you know, perhaps I'm picky?

Brilliant, we live in horsforth but always go to middlemiss for the best quality meat and piesread more

Weegman's feels like Otley's answer to Ilkley's famous Lishman's - a big butcher in a small market…read moretown, a name ending in "man's" and some good local meat. Otley is not as posh as Ilkley, and so Otley's biggest butcher is not as posh as Ilkley's - but it's just as good in its own way. The prices are slightly cheaper all round because the quality isn't strictly as "high" but I doubt many people could really taste the difference. They stock a surprisingly wide variety of meat, and like all good butcher's, they aren't afraid to dispense with a few secret recipe tips when they hand you your chosen slabs of meat. One thing that puts this butcher's above many others in my book is its homemade pastries - I get a little pork pie every time I'm in Otley from here, and it's glorious every time.

You can measure the worth a place by the volume of its customers, especially in little towns such…read moreas Otley. Literally, I spent about an hour on the same street as Weegmans simply browsing the charity shops and it never had a slow moment. That, if nothing else, demonstrates the popularity of a place! They stock all the good cuts that you might be looking for and despite being an indie butchers aren't too expensive. It's so frustrating that the huge supermarket chains have grown to the capacity they have today as it really wipes out the need for such caring indie shops like Weegmans. However, by the sheer number of customers, it's good to see that this hasn't been a problem. As well as all the tasty fresh meat produce they serve hot meat sandwiches, yum if you're not vegetarian, and some of the nicest pork pies around. All in all a total gem.

The Real Food Shop of Otley is one of those delicious down to earth deli style shops, packed with…read morereal good food. Firstly, there's the sandwiches. They're all home made with some mouth watering varieties on offer, including their freshly cooked meat sandwiches. The freshly cooked meats are also on sale, you can purchase ham, beef, pork, turkey chicken and more. If you're more of a panini or baguette kind of person then have no fear, they do those too. There are also a range of cheeses, drinks - hot and cold - and other deli items on offer here. Everything has that lovely country deli vibe to it and you certainly won't be disappointed. Try a sandwich, find a bench in Otley, and enjoy!

JB Wilkinson & Sons, it seems, are not quite the indie local little butchers that I had assumed…read morethey were - if you take a peek at their website you will come to realise that they have branches all about Leeds and Yorkshire! That's not to say it's a bad thing, by all means it suggests that they are popular, but judging by the people of Otley this particular branch isn't quite the favourite. Nevertheless, I am not one to sniff at the underdog, more over I am the one who will visit them more so as it often means less queuing! It's always worth a try, after all if the service is no good you've only the need to find that out once. JB Wilkinson & Sons of Otley certainly isn't bad as a local butchers. They appear to have as much of an array of bits as any other butchers, with lots of tasty cuts on show from proper Sunday lunch meats to more day to day bacon style choices. One thing that I thought was particularly cool was that you could purchase ready made mixes for stir fry - thai chicken, pork and beef stir fry mixes for about £4 per lb. That's not too bad as a one off now is it? It was a little disappointing to see things such as Colemans sauce packets on sale, I like to get my indie jams, sauces and chutneys from a local butcher, as opposed to some big company ready made that is packed with preservatives. Still, as I say, not bad for meat and such - especially if you want to miss the queue at Weegmans!

This cute little chocolatiers is situated in the beautiful market town of Otley. It's a bit of an…read moreodd one, you have to get through the florists it seems in order to make your way through to the delicious chocolate goodness, but that is no big obstacle for the more discerning chocolate lover. I can tell you that personally. This place is like a Thorntons, like a Hotel Chocolate, only more indie, more personalised and more beautiful because of that. They serve all the specialised chocolate treats that you might hope for and expect including truffles, bon bon chocolates, chocolate creams of all flavours, chocolates with liqueur filling. Oh. God! It's chocolate heaven. The staff are friendly and they've lots of lovely box sets to choose from! A delightful store that will put a smile on anyone's face, and it'll be a killer choice for Valentine's day!