Now reduced to a pile of rubble, for reasons which have been subjected to much speculation, The Crooked House pub in Himley was a true Midlands legend.
Its reputation was established long before the 1940s when its potential to draw a crowd to marvel at its twisted structure and optical illusions was recognised by one of Marston’s predecessor breweries, who stabilised the building and marketed it to punters as a local wonder.
For this reason a route from Dudley town centre to The Crooked House was chosen as one of the 30 “launch” walks for Walk Midlands when I first published the website (you can find it here). Since then it has been a steadily popular route racking up hundreds of individual views.
It was actually a tricky walk to put together. Footpaths marked on Ordnance Survey as running near, or to, the site of The Crooked House pub are very poorly maintained by the landowner. Indeed in some cases they have become so obscured and obstructed as to be impassable. Something, which Staffordshire County Council and the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley are hopefully looking into.
The story of the apparent arson and subsequent demolition of The Crooked House as we currently understand it, is spectacular and outlandish. Even more spectacular is the public outpouring of anger from Black Country residents and others, about how the destruction of the famous pub came about. Whether in the form of spontaneous vigils-cum-protests, online posts or art activism. Something which will no doubt determine how the story of The Crooked House at Himley develops in future.