The Crooked House Historic Pub in Dudley

BADGER.BRAD

BADGER.BRAD

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Not directly photo related , but I have seen many photos on here of the Historic Pub, The sad news is that it looks as if it was burnt down deliberately within days of it changing ownership for new use ( not confirmed yet) the walls were left standing and then a large digger moved in and now it looks like it was demolished illegally with out permission of the council. The road in had been blocked stopping fire crews access yet diggers demolished it from the other direction where no roads exist ! I used to drink in this fantastic pub at one point and the local Black Country community are in shock.

Here are a few links for those who did not know of it

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crooked_House

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-66421163

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england...C3&at_medium=social&at_ptr_name=facebook_page

petition
 
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Daily Mail are reporting that it was recommended for listed status a week before the fire: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...wonkiest-pub-listed-building-status-fire.html

Given we waited over a year round here to have a bridge on an A-road repaired due to their processes (damage underneath an arch almost no-one ever sees!) I wouldn’t blame a developer for clearing the site quickly after a fire occurring (however it happened) and not letting English Heritage and the council getting stuck into it.
 
The whole thing is very suspicious indeed. We all know disused warehouses, and the like have a mysterious habit of spontaneously bursting into flames. But it's the speed, and the brazenness of it that is shocking, in this case.
 
The West Midlands Mayor is now campaigning for it to be rebuilt using as much original material as possible and says any further planning will be blocked so hopefully their £675,000 is at least wasted ! Although I cannot say how this happened it does seem to happen quite often in the Black Country " Bloody Teenagers have got in and set the place alight !) Every year there was a massive tyre fire ( 1000's of them) in Bilston which was always blamed on local kids , it must have saved them a fortune in disposal !
 
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The thing is the developer wouldn't get planning permission for housing due to the amount of disused mine shafts under the whole site. It can only be used for landfill really and this developer seems to have started already.

He'd also need a licence to landfill and no doubt he'll get it once he's been to WH Smith for some brown envelopes.
 
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There seems to be a lot of spontaneous building fires lately. We have had two here in Newcastle, one a listed ex-university halls of residence & a disused social club turned into a lap dancing club both burnt to the ground. The club had to be demolished before it fell down.
 
The biggest irony is that by demolishing the property they have probably impeded any decent investigation in to the cause and thereby invalidated their insurance.

If they are forced to rebuild/restore, that is going to be very, very expensive.
 
A friend in Rugely has said it seems to be a bit of a regular occurrence that old pubs are burning down over that way. I don't know any specifics mind
 
BADGER.BRAD said:
The West Midlands Mayor is now campaigning for it to be rebuilt using as much original material as possible and says any further planning will be blocked so hopefully their £675,000 is at least wasted ! Although I cannot say how this happened it does seem to happen quite often in the Black Country " Bloody Teenagers have got in and set the place alight !) Every year there was a massive tyre fire ( 1000's of them) in Bilston which was always blamed on local kids , it must have saved them a fortune in disposal !
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Same thing happened to Strykers Bowling Alley near Bushbury. Land and property bought for £1m...burned down a few days later. Land sold to Aldi...

The Black Country does seem to like a bit of arson!
 
"Better to ask forgiveness than permission" springs to mind - they knew permission wasn't going to happen, so thought they'd chance that forgiveness (or failing that, an inconsequential fine) would be forthcoming...
 
We have been in that pub and it was weird inside. Your sense of balance was off not knowing if your upright yourself or not. nothing inside was level from floors to ceiling.
 
Fires in empty properties that people want to pull down and cant get permission seems fairly common here too. These days it shouldnt be too hard to secure a place to stop "vandals" getting in and setting fire.
 
swanseamale47 said:
Fires in empty properties that people want to pull down and cant get permission seems fairly common here too. These days it shouldnt be too hard to secure a place to stop "vandals" getting in and setting fire.
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'Come home to a real fire, buy a cottage in Wales'
 
Having friends in the Black Country it was one of the first places we were 'conducted' too when we first visited many years ago. Something seems a little wrong, or at least suspiciously convenient.
 
I think we can be certain that the insurers will be taking a very close look at the whole incident. ;)
 
I don't think it will be hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt if the developer orchestrated these events, whether evidence of the source of the fire has been destroyed or not. If so, they'll be in very hot water.
 
It's been reported today that the new owner of the Crooked House was the owner of the landfill site next door. So they might not have to look far.
 
Found this. Which I find amusing. :D

365669355_664061902419077_7901527809134464987_n.jpg
 
Biffa have stated that the property purchase was nothing to do with them but the digger used to demolish it was from the land fill next door . I Cannot remember the full name but the digger is owned by Something Farms and is still on the landfill at this point in time. It will most likely be a target from the local community it's self !
 
How convenient that a digger was immediately available to demolish the remains, yeah right. I hope the relevant local authority make them restore it.
 
Plain Nev said:
It's been reported today that the new owner of the Crooked House was the owner of the landfill site next door. So they might not have to look far.
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Well they have two landfill sites now. I know pubs are having a hard time recently but when landfill is more profitable it makes you think.
 
So if the new owners do NOT make a claim on their insurance, what crime have they actually committed, and why can you not destroy your own property.
 
L320Rio said:
So if the new owners do NOT make a claim on their insurance, what crime have they actually committed, and why can you not destroy your own property.
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Additions / alterations to houses / buildings require planning permission - I suspect the same may apply to partial / total demolition.
One of the articles refers to permission being granted for partial demolition due to part being unsafe.
 
It's a tangled web. While the pub was owned by a company called ATE Farms, it's owner, a woman, was married to the owner of the landfill company. Both companies are registered at the same address. A very convenient business arrangement.
 
What a sad state of affairs, spent many a happy hour in the Crooked House in my younger days.

I guess the real issue is even if they prove its arson, the real onus is proving that the arson was committed by the new owners… otherwise it‘s just another old abandoned building being set fire to.

Let’s hope the authorities get the bottom of the mystery and the appropriate action is taken against the offenders.
 
I haven’t seen any information on why this empty site (since that’s being assumed to be the attraction) is worth a lot of money to the landfill owners.
 
It is sad that people do this to such a ‘historic’ site but playing devils advocate the new owners were the victim of an arson attack and then did the right thing by demolishing it so that children playing in the shell weren’t harmed!

Obviously I don’t agree with the above but it would be very hard to show otherwise.
 
L320Rio said:
So if the new owners do NOT make a claim on their insurance, what crime have they actually committed, and why can you not destroy your own property.
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i think it was a "listed" building as it was of historical interest
 
Brazo said:
It is sad that people do this to such a ‘historic’ site but playing devils advocate the new owners were the victim of an arson attack and then did the right thing by demolishing it so that children playing in the shell weren’t harmed!

Obviously I don’t agree with the above but it would be very hard to show otherwise.
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They were specifically given permission for a partial demolition of the section that was deemed unsafe - which means they specifically did NOT have permission for a compete demolition.
 
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sphexx said:
I haven’t seen any information on why this empty site (since that’s being assumed to be the attraction) is worth a lot of money to the landfill owners.
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Long running dispute over use of the shared access according to a couple of stories I've seen in the press.

realspeed said:
i think it was a "listed" building as it was of historical interest
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Not listed, although there were plans to look into having it listed.
 
Nod said:
Long running dispute over use of the shared access according to a couple of stories I've seen in the press.



Not listed, although there were plans to look into having it listed.
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Listing, not listed… :naughty:
 
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