The ‘Wonky House’ fire; England’s history burns to the benefit of foreign property speculators

There is, in recent years, something of a tradition of closed-down pubs burning to the ground after being bought by property speculators. Those concerned are usually foreigners who have no interest in our heritage.

[johannabarry]

I have absolutely no doubt that this is the future for all our culture.

[arkstudios]

My family visited the crooked house only a few months ago, was an amazing pub. This is 100% corruption and greed by property developers, we have lost a fantastic bit of iconic history. Dudley council are totally inept, there needs to be a serious investigation into this.

[damian-]

Same thing seems to be happening to our churches, how odd

[wendysmith]

It was built in 1765 it was a farmers house, then to a pub the Glynn Arms then to marstons The Crooked House it was amazing pub and the marble used to roll upwards. It was underhanded greasy palm where was the diggers hiding ready to knock down. That pub was great to visit. These low life money grabbing heathens planned this. We the people are fuming about this. We have a museum in Dudley that buys up property but they were not even approached. This was our history. There is shady underhandedness gone on for the sake of money. We the people should not rest till these people are brought to justice.

[michaelhanrahan]

Planning permission should be automatically refused or revoked in the event of suspicious activity.

[trevorhoward]

I am a Black Country man. This place was one of legend, almost mythological, part the warp and weft of my history and identity. My grandparents and parents were taken there as children on summer evening coach trips to be awed by it's wonder. I, too, was taken there as a child and though I live away from the Black Country, it was still a place I would visit once in a while when returning to my homeland.
Pubs are an essential, unique aspect of our cultural heritage and are under threat like no other time. The fate of The Crooked House seems to symbolise the fate of our pubs, our cultural heritage, our history and of we English ourselves.
I am seldom moved much by news these days, but I actually shed a tear yesterday when I read this news.

[letsdiscussitoversometea]

In my part of the country, a 500 year old pub was bought by "property developers" who didn't obtain planning permission, yet started gutting the place, looking to turn it into flats.

At some point in time, the local council got wind of what was going on, and saw to it that "development" stopped.

Instead of reopening as its original pub, it has unfortunately become a shop (run I suspect, by those known to the developers).

This pub was absolutely iconic, and was the only building of its type left anywhere in our village.

Even though I'm teetotal, it STILL upset me greatly, that a charming building such as that was put under threat (and has been unfairly altered in my opinion).

It's left a very bad feeling in the area.

[susanbrowne]

Foreigners, Foreigners, Foreigners where would we be without them? In a much better place I'm sure.

[blacksmitho]

The same thing is happening to churches across Europe

[jasdavsim]

This pub is just down the road from me and it has really upset a lot of people now it’s been burnt down, but I’m sure what’s left of the English community here we will not let this go by quietly until someone is held accountable

[cliffdixon]

A few doors down from my flat was a car showroom running from an old 19th century building, part of it listed. When the long time owners sold up, it was taken over by gentlemen of 'South Asian origin' who continued to run it for a few months, often with some very expensive cars on the premises. A few months later they put in planning to build flats on it, this was knocked back due to listed status. A few weeks later, I was raised from my bed in the early hours of the morning by the Police who were evacuating properties surrounding it due to fire - There is an electricity substation next to it and if the fire brigade couldn't control the fire then a large explosion was likely (Fortunately the firemen were excellent and put out the fire but the place was a smouldering wreck). It was subsequently reported that the cause of the fire was a petrol bomb. Two things became very apparent afterwards. 1 - The burned out cars in the building were all older budget models. 2 - The planning application went through on the second attempt and the flats are now built, all rented out to people of ethnic origin.

[grimjim]

I drank in the Crooked House, pure scum who did this . The same sort of thing happened to the Elephant and Castle in Wolverhampton

[buzzabuzza]

I live a few miles from this piece of unique history, I’m horrified at what’s happened if there is any fraudulent practice taken place there should be huge fines, imprisonment and it fully restored to its original condition.

[chrishateley]

I used to live in Walsall (or as my friends and I now call it; Walsallistan), which isn't that big a distance from the Crooked House. I remember my dad telling me about it a lot when I was little. I finally got to visit it just a couple of years ago, shortly before I moved away from the area to somewhere where the majority of people still speak English as their first language. Glad I at least got to visit it once before it got culturally enriched.

[tomkent]

It can only be hoped that planning consent for change of use will be refused, unless brown envelopes have already been delivered!

[Bob.Jenkins]

The thought that foreigners are destroying British culture is disturbing... it demonstrates that we can't rely solely on our Government to complete the task.

[susanmcdermott]

It needs a full investigation into how this fire started, we are loosing everything.

[richardchanning]

The Crooked House is only short distance from my town and was very well loved buy many local people. There is a great deal of interest in what has happened here.

[chathamdogend]

A former nursing home in my locality suddenly burn't down after it had been put in 'special measures' by the local authority and closed down by the Care Quality Commission. The owner of this establishment, prior to its destruction by fire, was, you guessed it, from another community with South Asian links.

[mrmiller]

When you see that and who is running the country it just underlines why we are in such a state