You never know what you will come across when you are out and about. This is the Mad Cat Inn in Pidley, Huntingdon. A traditional country inn where you can spend an afternoon sampling the local ales and food. They have a good reputation for Sunday lunch which I have yet to sample.

Mad Cat Inn, Pidley

I took a couple of photographs of it as the odd name grabbed my attention. It turns out that this is the only inn in the whole of Britain called the Mad Cat Inn. That's pretty interesting in and of itself.

There are other pubs and inns with the word cat in the title. The Cat and fiddle, The Cat in the custard etc. these are mostly marketing initiatives rather than of any historic interest?

What’s the difference between and Inn and a Pub you ask? An Inn traditionally had accommodation for travelers.

Back to the Mad Cat. How did it get such an odd name?

The story goes that the landlady some years ago ordered a new sign for the inn which was originally called the White Lion.

When the artist turned up with this sign. A local wag said it looked more like a Mad Cat and the name just stuck. What do you think?

Source

The Mad Cat inn has been around a very long time. Built in 1648 and on the edge of the fens. It is an important part of the picturesque village of Pidley. I wonder how many pints of ale they have sold in all that time?

Edge of the fens

It's amazing what you can discover when you dig a little deeper into your local area. What was a simple stop to take a photograph of an unusual pub sign took me on a little trip back into history.

Hope you enjoyed this taste of local history.

My ZTE Blade V7 LITE smartphone

This is my entry for #smartphonephotography by @juliank

Location:
!steemitworldmap 52.3813921 lat -0.0425156 long The Mad Cat Inn, Pidley, Huntingdonshire! d3scr