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15-01-2016, 10:20
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‘I did a pub called Kitty Witches in Great Yarmouth with my mates on a few dinner time sessions*back in June 1982. The pub was a small and single roomed with the bar facing. There were lots of*witches hanging from the ceiling and they were also for sale.*The pub was a Whitbread tied house and was in the middle of town. I would be very interested if you could let me know what happened to this pub.’ Alan Winfield
The building is still there, and still operating as a licensed premises, under the name Liberty’s Rock Cafe.

The extremely comprehensive Norfolk Public Houses*website, referencing local licensing documents, suggests, however, that Alan’s memory of the date might be incorrect, as*it was trading as The Lion & Lamb until 1987, when it looked something like this:

The 'Lion and Lamb' pub on King Street in Jan 1975. Just 5 minutes walk from what is now our museum #PubFriday (https://twitter.com/hashtag/PubFriday?src=hash) pic.twitter.com/nYj2CdkZpd (https://t.co/nYj2CdkZpd)
— Time & Tide Museum (@timetidemuseum) December 18, 2015 (https://twitter.com/timetidemuseum/status/677790458244935680)

It*then briefly became*‘Manhattans’ in around 1987-88, before being renamed Kitty Witches or Kittywitches from around 1989 to 1996.
It’s possible, we suppose, that it was decorated with witches and/or known as Kitty Witches, with reference to a local folk custom (http://www.kitwitches.co.uk/Why.php), before the name changed formally.
If you have any more information, or think we have the wrong end of the stick, leave a comment below.
Q&A: What Became of Kitty Witches, Great Yarmouth? (http://boakandbailey.com/2016/01/qa-what-became-of-kitty-witches-great-yarmouth/) from Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog - Over-thinking beer, pubs and the meaning of craft since 2007 (http://boakandbailey.com)


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