An addition to Cowli1's Historical Wharfedale series.
Otley maypole occupies a prominent position in Manchester Square in the centre of the town where Boroughgate and Walkergate meet. It is 75 feet long - 8 feet of it being underground. It is painted green with a weather vane on the top and it stands in a raised garden. A notice from Otley Town Council reads "A maypole has stood on this site for many centuries. Present pole erected 1962'. The cost of this pole was £64 with £230 for the raising.
Though Otley can boast of having a Maypole for upwards of two hundred years, it is not clear when the first was erected. It is tolerably well known, however, that within the last ninety years or so three poles have been destroyed. About eighty or eighty five years ago, a fierce storm swept over Wharfedale and among other erections which fell before the blast was the Maypole.
After a while it was repaired and a portion of it re-erected. A few years later that too was blown down and so much was it damaged that it was beyond repairs Not liking to see his native town without its much-prized pole, Mr Maude, who was a timber merchant, in business in Leeds, very kindly presented the town with a new one, which was re-rected amid considerable rejoicing on the part of the inhabitants. But it was not to remain long. It was erected without a lightning conductor, and on the 12th. of June 1871, it was completely shattered.
Notwithstanding these several misfortunes, the inhabitants seemed as if they could not fancy their town minus a pole, and on the following May-day, the Maypole, at present standing, was raised. The occasion was one of great festivity, and many thousands of persons flocked from Leeds and Bradford and the surrounding district to witness the novel proceedings. The streets were literally thronged for a greater part of the day, and flags and banners were most freely displayed.
The 'Cross Green' of today bore not only a different name but bore a widely different aspect some seventy or eighty years since. The open space thereabouts was known as 'The Cross on the Green'. This name was given to the spot owing to the fact that it was almost covered with a sward, and surrounded by grass fields; whilst in the centre was a cross with a Maypole towering through the middle of it. Stone steps led up to the cross, and the farmers, butter dealers and others attending the market were accustomed to sit on the steps and dispose of their produce."
Credit to www.barwickinelmethistoricalsociety.com for the facts above.