It was “the place to be”. In Himley, a small village to the west of Birmingham, the “Crooked House”, a sloping 18th century pub had become a local attraction for years. Even to a sober visitor, this pub in central England, tilted at 15 degrees, with one end sunk more than a meter into the ground compared to the other, looked like it could collapse any minute to the other.
For 260 years, this pub has been a real living place for the inhabitants of Himley. But the economic crisis arrived, and last month the historic establishment was sold. Worse, it was destroyed by flames a week later. What arouse the national emotion.
Faced with this very suspicious sequence, the police – and the English newspapers – are investigating but in the meantime, bulldozers have razed what was left of the pub. Faced with the outcry, the local authorities repeat that they had only given their authorization to secure the building. But the damage is done.
An “absolute tragedy”
For Paul Ainsworth, of the Camra group, the loss of the “Crooked House”, a “unique” and “amazing” place, is an “absolute tragedy”. But even if the calls for reconstruction are successful, the place will “never be the same again, because its unique atmosphere comes from its age and its history”, he insists to AFP.
In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the group last week denounced the “predatory buying and dismantling of historic pubs”. Pubs, which have been a central part of British life for centuries, have struggled for many years due to changing consumer habits. More recently, the pandemic and soaring prices have had a devastating effect.
“More Than a Pub”
After the Crooked House was sold, thousands of people signed an online petition calling for it to be saved. Some even placed flowers and signs in the rubble of the pub. “More Than a Pub” read the tributes.
Paul Turner, the originator of the petition, argued that such a pub, if run well, could “attract visitors from all over the world”. At 58, he said he was “devastated” by the fire, adding that the place had been “part of (his) childhood”. Paul Ainsworth hopes the authorities order the pub to be rebuilt, paving the way for some sort of takeover by the local community.