• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

The Crooked House In Himley: The Pub Where Coins 'Roll Uphill'

Trevp666 said:
I think that when buildings have some historical significance, whether they are 'listed' or not, they should have access to a fund that allows for them to maintain the building itself, so that in the case (such as our 'wonkiest pub', and 'The Clock') of something extreme happening that ruins the building rendering it unusable, that 'the fund' steps in to cover the cost of rebuilding in it's original form.
Maybe 'the fund' could be financed by a contribution from all buildings insurance policies along with donations etc.

I mean, I much prefer the look of the original 'Clock' building to that which replaced it.
IMO if the people that buy these places, and want to redevelop them, use the "it just burnt down" method of getting around planning restrictions etc, this method would be rendered obsolete if the building would (by law) just have to be replaced with an exact duplicate.
Click to expand...
This is why I think that, in the case of 'sudden fire' or 'whoops, it just fell down' incidents in buildings where planning permission has been refused, planning permission should be eternally revoked. So there is no hope for the purchaser to turn the ruin into whatever it was that they had had planning permission denied for. The only planning permission that should be possible to be granted, would be, as you say, to replace with an exact duplicate.
 
Coincidence...

Band with unfortunate name responds to 'awful coincidence' over cancelled Crooked House gig
By Daniel WaltonBlack CountryPublished: 8 hours ago
A country duo booked to play at the iconic The Crooked House on the night it burned down has described it as an "awful coincidence".

Sally Rae Morris and Stephen Marks, who together perform as Gasoline & Matches, have addressed the public over their unfortunate band name after a poster went viral in the hours following the destruction of the much-loved pub.

The band, which was due to play at The Crooked House on the night of the fire, said it was an "awful coincidence" that they were due to appear at the venue on the night of the fire, but that they are sorry over the loss of the pub.

Both said their phones had been 'blowing up' after the news of the fire on Saturday broke, going on to say that a poster of theirs promoting their Crooked House gig quickly spread around social media.
Click to expand...
https://www.shropshirestar.com/news...eLHoyncrhYdyBspdQxGspDm74o#ll0w3745yczliex2c7
 
Trevp666 said:
I read earlier that the 'Wonkiest Pub' burnt out shell has now been demolished.
They done that quick.
Click to expand...
My crystal ball shows a block of flats going up at an equal speed. A lot harder to order someone to demolish much needed housing that's actually full of tenants than an empty shell.

Cynical? Perhaps, just a wee bit.
 
cycleboy2 said:
It gets more and more suspicious - apparently large mounds of earth blocked fire engines from getting to the blaze, which is either handy or unfortunate.
Click to expand...

To be fair, I see that quite a bit round here, usually for making disused roads "traveller-proof". The owners might well have put the piles of earth there to stop undesirables from driving down to the abandoned building and, er, setting fire to it or something.

I don't have facts, of course, only ill-informed opinions... which you are all welcome to!

There was a pub not far from here (The Bagot, in case anyone knows the Sutton Coldfield/Erdington area) which had lain empty for some years. The local rumour was that the owners had sought, and failed to get (due to the age and significance of the building), planning permission to knock it down and squeeze housing onto the site. Oddly enough, this one also "went on fire" and has now been demolished, and the site levelled for building. Nothing to see here, move along...
 
Saddens me that more and more of England is becoming home to identikit, cheaply built (but expensive to buy) housing and that there is no space for a wonderful old building like this in the relentless drive for profit. Essentially now the wealthy get to live in character properties in nice rural and semi-rural locations and everyone else is shovelled into these rabbit hutch estates.
 
Floyd1 said:

The Crooked House: Fire rips through famed 'wonky' pub​



Fire at Crooked House Pub



A famed 18th Century building once known as "Britain's wonkiest pub" has been completely gutted by a fire.
Smoke was reported coming from The Crooked House at Himley, near Dudley, at about 22:00 BST on Saturday.
Pictures from scene showed the property, which drastically subsided in the 19th Century, engulfed by flames.
Last month, it was confirmed the owners, Marston's, had sold the popular Black Country landmark to a private buyer for "an alternative use".
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service said no-one was believed to be inside the building at the time and no injuries had been reported.
An investigation has been launched by Staffordshire Police and the fire service to determine the cause of the blaze.
Six fire crews tackled the flames overnight and by Sunday morning the fire was largely extinguished.

Fire at Crooked House Pub



The Crooked House was a popular attraction in the West Midlands for decades after Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries bought it and converted it into a pub in the 1940s.
Visitors flocked to see the distinctive building and witness the illusion of coins and marbles appearing to roll uphill along the bar.
It was built in 1765 as a farmhouse but, due to mining in the area during the early 19th Century, one side of the building began to sink.
In March, Marston's listed it for sale with a guide price of £675,000 but thousands of people signed a petition in the hope of keeping it as a pub.

The Crooked House pub


A petition to save the pub had amassed nearly 4,000 signatures
Watch commander Chris Green, from Tipton fire station, said: "The crews had to roll out 40 lengths of hose from the Himley Road which was the nearest hydrant."
The area around the fire site remains closed from High Arcal Road to Brick Kiln Lane.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-66421163
Click to expand...
0_SHOWBIZ-Typecasting-3.jpg
 
Of course, when places get redeveloped they should do it like this, which is "The Bell Motel" in Codicote.
Or rather, it was - it is now being turned into swanky residential properties.
To be fair, they are keeping the whole building and renovating it properly along with adding some bits, but it looks like a sympathetic construction being done.
1691506701355.png


This was the 'artists impression' in the local rag.
(The rear of the ex-pub had/has some significant outbuildings that were separate self-contained rooms with en-suites and kitchenettes.)

1691506779710.png
 
catseye said:
A lot harder to order someone to demolish much needed housing that's actually full of tenants than an empty shell.

Cynical? Perhaps, just a wee bit.
Click to expand...
Not cynical, just a realist. Though you 'fall down' at the housing being built actually goes to those who rent and not outright sold to buy-to-let or those who need housing even.
 
I wonder if the new properties will also suffer from subsidence and the 'coins rolling uphill' that the 'wonkiest pub' did?
That'd be just about right.
 
I'm sorry, but this sort of abuse has been going on for 50 years or more. this pub wasn't actually listed, but a grade two listed pub in Rochford - the next town to where I grew up - was simple abandonded by the owners for 20 years and then deemed unsafe, demolished, and replaced with apartments. The pub dated back to the 14th century. There should be an absolute prohibition on reuse of sites of listed buildings.
 
kamalktk said:
Wouldnt work. Nowadays it'd just be an endless stream of youtube ghost hunters showing up.
Click to expand...
That's half this forum! The other half egging them on. Or just egging them....
 
The new owners:

"The Guardian has learned that the new buyer was a property firm called ATE Farms Ltd, owned by Carly Taylor, 34, a director of multiple companies.

ATE Farms is registered to the same address as Himley Environmental Ltd, which runs the 15-hectare (37-acre) quarry and landfill site next to the pub. The Guardian was unable to reach ATE Farms for comment"

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...nswers-about-destruction-of-crooked-house-pub

Maybe not housing them...
 
Paul_Exeter said:
The new owners:

"The Guardian has learned that the new buyer was a property firm called ATE Farms Ltd, owned by Carly Taylor, 34, a director of multiple companies.

ATE Farms is registered to the same address as Himley Environmental Ltd, which runs the 15-hectare (37-acre) quarry and landfill site next to the pub. The Guardian was unable to reach ATE Farms for comment"

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...nswers-about-destruction-of-crooked-house-pub

Maybe not housing them...
Click to expand...
Apparently they were only supposed to 'remove three sections from the front only,' this was primarily to secure the weaker parts from falling!
It seems that the Council did not sanction a complete demolition - and that the Council thought that the way the situation ended up 'as a full demolition,' was 'completely unacceptable and contrary to the instructions which were provided by the Council officers.'
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top