A PUB badly hit by the floods in Northwich in January is ready to welcome back its first customers since Christmas.

The Swinging Witch on Crown Street was left under water when the town's drainage system failed to cope with the deluge of rain brought by Storm Christoph.

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However, after a spectacular refurbishment, the remaining finishing touches are being made before the doors reopen next Monday (May 17).

Northwich Guardian: The newly transformed beer garden at the Swinging Witch in Northwich.

The newly transformed beer garden at the Swinging Witch in Northwich.

For licensee Danny Barton, the road back has been long, with plenty of hard work required to get everything ready on time.

He said: "It’s taken some really hard work after the floods, there’s been days we wanted to give up but when we see our amazing customers in the town and they are so supportive and enthusiastic about us opening we knew we needed to continue the fight.

"We have personally ploughed money into the refurb to make the premises more and more inviting for the whole of the town.

"The support from our brewery, Amber Taverns, has been fantastic and for them to show the faith in us to help extend the premises, especially after the covid lockdowns and not being able to trade, has really choked us."

Northwich Guardian: The Swinging Witch was hit severely by the floods in January and will be re-opening on May 17.

The floods in January caused devastation to the beer garden.

Danny and his partner Emma have only been running the pub since September last year and in that time have experienced several highs and lows, but the end of the tunnel is hopefully in sight.

"Our new extensive drinks and food menu is something we are really proud of and we hope our customers will see the thought we have put into it," Danny added.

"We have worked closely with our area Manager, Matt Bainbridge, to try and offer something for everyone.

"We can’t wait to open on Monday at 11am, we are already taking table bookings well into the end of June and it’s lovely to see bookings being made by people we haven’t seen in the pub before.

"I just hope they can see the love and attention to detail we have bought to the pub to make them feel a part of the Witch family and most importantly our fantastic Northwich community."

Northwich Guardian: The newly transformed beer garden at the Swinging Witch in Northwich.

One of the amazing all-weather pods in the newly transformed beer garden.

Although the pub hasn't been trading during the outdoor drinking only phase of the easing of restrictions, they are all set to offer that now having transformed the beer garden.

The newly extended beer garden includes a total of 16 tables, including five all important, all-weather pods.

With the re-opening likely to prove to be popular, table bookings are advised.