We visited The Crooked House after the devastating fire & it was so sad

It was the calm after the storm in Himley following a pub blaze that left a devastating trail of destruction at the iconic Crooked House. Just a week after its sale to a private buyer, Britain’s ‘wonkiest pub’ went up in flames late on Saturday night (August 5). It has since reportedly been demolished.

Staffordshire Police, meanwhile, are continuing to work with the fire service to establish the exact cause of the inferno over the weekend. The Crooked House, for those who don’t know, has long been an old friend to those that live in the heart of the Black Country. Many a Saturday and Sunday afternoon have been spent at the iconic former pub which was famed for its local ales and giant cheese and ham cobs.

In recent years, though, trade has been hard going, hence Marston’s decision to sell. It’s also well off the beaten track with a long, winding and eerie lane that appears to just go on and on before you eventually get to the famous old building. You wouldn’t walk home after the pub in the evening, put it that way, while the site today is all overgrown and abandoned.

It has also become a hotspot for fly-tippers with old toilets and building materials just dumped on the approach to the Crooked House. It really is a sad state of affairs down there with two giant mud mounds ditched to stop cars from trespassing on what is private land.

“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.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the security guard with his German Shepherd wandered on over to tell us more. “It’s been chaos down here; police, fire, it hasn’t stopped,” he said, with workers also on site erecting metal fences to deter trespassers.

Two news photographers then came wandering down the country lane, somewhat baffled that there used to be a pub so far down. “How could this be your local?” one of them said, laughing. And that was the point, I guess, that it was never really a local pub – more of a tourism attraction for those that looked for something to do on a sunny afternoon.

The biggest downfall the pub faced, though, judging by today’s visit and by the reviews online, is that very country lane which is a: very narrow and b: full of potholes, mud and rubbish. You also have to go past a landfill site to get there. It’s just not all that practical, sadly, which is probably what put punters off and stopped them from coming back after their first and only visit. The pub itself was said to be ‘dead’ on most days and, as all publicans will tell you, boozers – old and new – rely on people regularly putting their money behind the bar.

Put it his way, if The Crooked House was thriving, there’s no way Marston’s would have put it up for sale. Yes, it’s a crying shame what happened to the iconic 258 year-old building but its closure, prior to the fire, is a sign of the times knowing, on average, at least 51 pubs are closing down per month in the UK.

In relation to the travesty surrounding The Crooked House fire, local MP and pub champion Marco Longhi said: “The visuals [of the fire] have hit me with sadness and anger, and I am sure Gornal and many residents around Dudley feel the same.

“I can assure my constituents that I will leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom of this. I will reach out to all relevant departments and enforcement agencies to make sure they make all necessary efforts to find out the cause of this fire. If it has been deliberate then it is essential to bring its perper tractors to justice.”

Responding to Staffordshire Police’s claim that the Crooked House was an empty building, Mr Longhi added: “I very much disagree that it was a derelict building. It was in good condition and my wife and I lunched there only a few months ago.”

Detective Inspector Richard Dancey, meanwhile, from Staffordshire Police said: “This incident has caused a great deal of speculation locally and we understand the significance of the building within the local community. We would like to remind the public that our investigation is ongoing and we are reviewing all of the available evidence available alongside fire investigators to determine the cause of the incident.

“Due to the excess damage caused to the structure of the building, the cordon remains in place today and we’re asking people to avoid the area. Those who may have any useful information are urged to get in touch with us whilst we continue to complete our lines of enquiry alongside the fire service.”