A PAIR of dray horses from Thwaites Brewery have paid a special visit to Otley.

The working Shire horses were invited to town on Saturday, June 16 to take part in this year's Otley Carnival parade.

They had been invited along by Otley Pub Club and the landlord of the Manor House pub, David Stephan.

There was a hitch, however, after the dray the horses usually pull was damaged during an 'invasion' of the Thwaites Brewery site, in Blackburn, by travellers at the end of May.

The replacement cart was not fitted with suitable brakes for Otley's hills, which created a problem - as Pub Club Secretary Bob Brook explained.

He said: "This meant the horses, Ribble and Gunner, had to provide virtually all of the braking!

"Consequently, as the carnival parade slowed down to a stop going over Otley Bridge, the dray had to hold back until it had a free run up and over the bridge itself.

"Unfortunately, this meant that hundreds of people walked in front of it and by the time it did manage to enter the carnival field there were too many people going in and out to allow it to enter the showground itself.

"So instead we just stayed in the lorry park where families and small children could get up close and personal with the horses and their draymen while avoiding the crowds inside."

He added: "The draymen, Jon and Phil, were very professional and well rehearsed and the horses, which were only three and five years old, were extremely placid and well-trained.

"They were really popular with young and old on the day, with hundreds of people taking photos of them as we walked through town."

The horses also visited the Manor House before and after the parade, to the delight of the inn's customers.