A couple of old hands have concocted The Witch, in West Ipswich’s former Coronation Hotel, opening a new-look venue for changing times.
The well-loved old pub closed abruptly in 2019 after a tenant vacated.
Ray Smith and business partner Ron Oatley have owned a half-dozen pubs over the years, and re-emerged from semi-retirement to revive the dormant old girl, heralding the return of a local watering hole as The Witch.
While they will respect her history, the men see fresh ideas as essential, starting with a new craft beer bar in what used to be the gaming room and direct access to the former drive-through bottleshop cold room. What was a cocktail bar has been transformed into a function space, to broaden the business’ offering.
At the rear are motel units, which have been refreshed with new paint, carpet, beds, joinery and TVs, and already enjoy some regular occupancy.
The Coronation had something of a reputation for music, and while this will continue it is tipped to be “a little different”. In the near future there may also be soloists or duos playing on the freshly decked-out deck, once the heat of the western sun subsides.
After a career behind the bar, Smith made a move toward retirement a few years ago, dabbling in brew shops and home-brewing before getting a little restless. Finding West Ipswich a strong and under-serviced catchment, he began thinking of a pub brewery and approached the title-holders to the Coronation, which had been dormant nearly two years.
The freehold remains in the hands of the well-known former rugby player and local icon, Geoff McClean, who declined to sell the property to Smith and Oatley.
“It had been closed for so long, it was a blank canvas,” he says.
Evolving the concept, the partners eventually gave away the idea of a micro-brewery, instead working closely with local operations Ballistic Brewery, Black Hopps and Slipstream to tap a strong selection of boutique beers.
“If we were not going to own a craft brewery, we wanted to stock some really good craft breweries,” Smith explains.
He’s also become a convert to the direct pull reticulation system on site, drawing ten craft and 18 mainstream beers directly from the cool room, allowing them to have as many taps as they want.
Despite having had gaming in all their other pubs, Smith sees it as a blight on the community and thought “a better way to go” was to not have a gaming room, although they are still considering TAB and Keno facilities, seeing them as part of pub culture.
Blazing a new trail, the pub sports a new Ipswich-inspired moniker and mascot, being a witch on a broom who’s also “a good sort”. It tentatively opened in December amid waves of COVID uncertainty, gaining a bit of momentum, only to be closed again for a brief period last week.
After the injection of a few hundred-thousand dollars The Witch is still a work in progress, but it will continue to see further offerings, such as takeaway options in the near future.
“We did an attractive deal to get it back on its feet, which has given us a chance to operate without a big rent over our head. It’s still got a bit more to go, but it’s tidied up nicely.
“We’re just going to plod away with it … it’s about going back to basics, because pubs are such a community facility.”
