Skip to content

Amazing how this happens

Police are investigating a “suspicious” blaze that destroyed “Britain’s wonkiest pub” just weeks after it was sold to developers.

The Crooked House pub in Himley in the Black Country became an unlikely tourist attraction thanks to its uneven walls, floors and surfaces.

Must have been that it was empty, right? Couldn’t have been anything else.

21 thoughts on “Amazing how this happens”

  1. Aneel Mussarat

    A wonky house would never sell. What luck is burnt down so some modern box (or more likely boxes) can replace it.

  2. Ottokring

    I’ve been there, just under 20 years ago. Pie and a pint night, if I recall. Was quite thriving. I guess Covid nonsense and high energy prices killed it. There were/are a few places like that in the Black Country, caused by mining subsidence or canal works. Or perhaps it was Godzilla…?

  3. Ryan

    It’s amazing how many unused buildings in the 2025 UK City of Culture burn down after planning permission denied…

  4. Ironman

    I think this can be filed under “Nothing to see here; move along”. And anyone who says otherwise has a bad mind!

    I do wonder who the mystery buyer was though. And if they have any close friends working as loss adjusters…. no, I’ll stop right there.

  5. PJF

    Could have been something-something flammable from an old mine works. I recommend the site becomes a little park or nature spot for twenty years, just to be sure it is all vented.

  6. john77

    Well, how can the police prove *beyond reasonable doubt* that any named individual was guilty of arson unless an insider turns “King’s Evidence”? No jury should convict solely on motive (value of site with some ruins being greater than the value of the pub including site).

  7. Bloke In Scotland

    To add to the tragedy of losing their delightfully quaint building, the owners will miss out on the joys of having their property listed. A dark day for them indeed.

  11. Bloke in North Dorset

    I don’t know about there but round here a pub has to fail at least twice before the owners are granted change of use, if it’s the same there that’s a really convenient fire.

  12. Bongo

    From the local paper:
    “There’s no saving this,” the security guard told me, with heaps of bricks piled up where the entrance to the bar used to be. The roof’s just disappeared too with the rest of the building now almost certain to be demolished.
    Fair play to the burnists – did the job first time and don’t need to come back for a second go, and made sure no human life was endangered by checking no-one was in including the ahem security.

    And
    “local MP and pub champion Marco Longhi” says “If it has been deliberate then it is essential to bring its perpertractors to justice”. A man with an open mind, you’d want him on your jury.

  15. Ducky McDuckface

    One of the local rags makes the, interesting, claim that access roads were blocked off such that the fire brigade were delayed.

    Probably picked it up off Twitter, still, there you go.

  16. BniC

    Newport in south wales used to have a high level of arson, leaving a building empty/derelict( especially old/listed) for a short period leading to ‘homeless people squatting and causing a fire’ seemed to be the preferred way of starting a planning application.

  18. Addolff

    PJF, I wonder what the going rate for a ‘fire door’ will be. Come to think of it, every fucking thing that can be ‘liberated’ off that hulk will be liberated and on sale in and around Portland. The operation will be on a par with Alang shipyard…

    Down the pub: “Hey, boss, wanna buy brand new tap? Ten Lek / Afghani / Rial / Nakfa /” (cont. p94).

  20. Excavator Man

    PO38 postcode, where you can’t get landslip or subsidence insurance, suffers a lot of fires …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *