The Crooked House…..

[Omegstrat6]

I'd forgotten about both of those! Been a very long while since I've had either. Ma Pardoe's, if I remember, was a kind of Black Country legend but you could only get it at The Old Swan? I know I've had it but that was ages ago now. Bathams was more widely available in the area though don't know whether you can get it online now.

Woodford's brewery isn't far from me and you're right, it's very quaffable but Ghost Ship is worth a go too if you haven't had it. Its got a bit of a citrus tang to it but very nice. Think you can get Adnam's ales in most supermarkets now.

[Omegstrat6]

Local authority heritage officers (who make decisions on listed buildings planning applications) have to adopt a flexible attitude and allow people to upgrade really old properties in order to embrace a modern standard of living, if they just objected to everything then nobody would ever want to buy them. If your appllication includes restoring many of the original features (as mine did) then they'll compromise and overlook other things they might normally have turned down.

I understand that the heritage officers need to be reasonable regarding a degree of flexibility but some of the things people got away with in the past could be unreal. In the case of the hotel my wife worked at, the frontage and a lot of the interior was left pretty much as it was originally ( and it even included an inherited ghost!) but the rear of the building had had a pretty awful early 1970s extension built on to it at some point. At the risk of sounding very Prince Charles, this was a bit of a monstrosity that certainly didn't fit in with the rest of the Tudor build and couldn't see such a thing being passed today.

[saltnshake]

Already been knocked down according to reports i have seen tonight.

[mickd1961]

Already been knocked down according to reports i have seen tonight.

I find that hard to believe Salt, fire brigade, police and insurance would surely want to fully investigate?

[Omegstrat6]

Photos on bbc national news this morning showing the pub still standing after the fire extinguished and then a later one of it having been demolished to a pile of rubble. Also photos of piles of earth which blocked the lane to fire crews giving access to the building. Lots of questions being rightly asked-including of the new owner- but sadly all to late to save a building that surely should have had far more protection given its historical interest. Plenty of people will be rightly upset at this. The investigation may lead to those responsible being prosecuted but it won't bring the place back and doubt there will be funds to try to use what's left of the original to re-create it at the BCLM.

[Albionic68]

Such a sad demise for what accounts to an institution. The beginning of the end to me was that god awful extension. It could have been in better keeping.

When sales began to drop it shouldn't have been beyond the imagination to have restored some of the kilns/nearby area and add it to part of a tourist trail.

The brewery company may even have got some kind of grant towards that end with a bit of foresight and planning. Oh well.

[yoonited]

If it could be established that this was a deliberate act of arson in order to acquire the land for other purposes, then if there is sufficient public outcry and a well organised campaign, the owner could be ordered to rebuild the property brick by brick and have it reinstated exactly as it was. I myself had some involvement in a similar situation concerning a 300 year old pub, The Greyhound in Sydenham South East London just a few years ago. A local developer, Purelake Ltd owned by Gerald Dowd, brother of the then local Labour MP Jim Dowd, illegaly demolished the pub leaving just the front wall standing. They were given a substantial fine and had to get the place totally rebuilt. This was following many protests, public meetings and petitions many of which I attended/signed, it wasn't that I ever used the pub that much as there were others nearer the part of Sydenham I lived in for over 30 years, but just as a matter of principle I felt it was outrageous what Purelake had done and I was part of a large group who successfully held them to account.

https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/1...mmunity-value/

[soulman101]

It has now been demolished to a pile of rubble.

[Omegstrat6]

If it could be established that this was a deliberate act of arson in order to acquire the land for other purposes, then if there is sufficient public outcry and a well organised campaign, the owner could be ordered to rebuild the property brick by brick and have it reinstated exactly as it was. I myself had some involvement in a similar situation concerning a 300 year old pub, The Greyhound in Sydenham South East London just a few years ago. A local developer, Purelake Ltd owned by Gerald Dowd, brother of the then local Labour MP Jim Dowd, illegaly demolished the pub leaving just the front wall standing. They were given a substantial fine and had to get the place totally rebuilt. This was following many protests, public meetings and petitions many of which I attended/signed, it wasn't that I ever used the pub that much as there were others nearer the part of Sydenham I lived in for over 30 years, but just as a matter of principle I felt it was outrageous what Purelake had done and I was part of a large group who successfully held them to account.

https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/1...mmunity-value/

If this is proved to be the case here then this is certainly an avenue worth pursuing and one I'm sure many would sign up to to support.

[yoonited]

Local Mayor Andy Street is already campaigning to get it rebuilt, I wish him every success. A good architect could make the place even more crooked and quirkier than it ever was.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/t...-b1099243.html