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A Birmingham and Black Country thread for all things Brummie and Yam-Yam

Does anyone in Birmingham or Walsall have a spare bed on Friday 24th March? I need to be in Walsall on Saturday morning
 
Smokeandsteam said:
The (in)famous Brutalist signal box just outside New St seems to have become a magnet for a special type of tourist...

www.railadvent.co.uk

7,000 apply for tours of Birmingham New Street signal box

Over 7,000 applications were received for one-time tours of the former Birmingham New Street signal box for which there were just 60 places on offer.
www.railadvent.co.uk www.railadvent.co.uk
Click to expand...
Yes!
I posted details of the ballot, which I saw mentioned on a London blog, to the people on the Birmingham History Forum but none of them were lucky enough to win a visit - perhaps they will consider further tours now?
 
Ditto. I kept getting more annoyed when I saw it advertised in so many publications, no wonder so many applied.
I hope they open it up a bit more, I'd happily pay. Can't imagine it was a fun task phoning 60 odd people to confirm their attendance.
 
Is this what you had heard - copied from a post on another Forum....

There is an article in today's Mail on Sunday about this. It includes the following:

"Locals allege that the sole track leading to the property had been blocked by 'mounds of dirt' when fire engines from six regional departments arrived at the scene last night."

Lee Goodchild (the former publican, since last September) is quoted, "They (Marston's) told me that I was not going to open again, they were not going to repair the damages - pretty much end of. I then moved my stuff out and vacated around three weeks ago. All I know about the new owners is it is an independent person, and they have a local business. It was sold for an 'alternative purpose' - so people can make of that what they wish."
 
blossie33 said:
Is this what you had heard - copied from a post on another Forum....

There is an article in today's Mail on Sunday about this. It includes the following:

"Locals allege that the sole track leading to the property had been blocked by 'mounds of dirt' when fire engines from six regional departments arrived at the scene last night."

Lee Goodchild (the former publican, since last September) is quoted, "They (Marston's) told me that I was not going to open again, they were not going to repair the damages - pretty much end of. I then moved my stuff out and vacated around three weeks ago. All I know about the new owners is it is an independent person, and they have a local business. It was sold for an 'alternative purpose' - so people can make of that what they wish."
Click to expand...
I didn't hear any details, just a local hearsay

This is a genuine poster for the band that had been booked to play last night!!

1000008078.jpg
 
Extremely sad to read that the "Crooked House" has been burnt down.

I am, also, pretty convinced it wasn't "an accident" but actually proving 'who dun it' may turn out to be impossible.
Sadly, so would getting it rebuilt back to as it was ...

Marston's need a kick up the arse ...

...

I am reminded of the various fires that destroyed the bonded warehouses on Newcastle Quayside, when the developers were either refused permission to alter the buildings - I think they were listed - or they discovered that their grand designs didn't fit into the existing buildings {something about floor separation and support pillars, IIRC.
 
Convenient accident?

Closed down pubs - because the economics of pubs are, at the moment, difficult - tend to become a magnet for anti-social behaviour, they go derelict quickly, and no one is going to take them on because the economy is shot and getting planning permission for change of use from a village pub to a private house is challenging.

Pub 'accidentally' burns down, site becomes vacant, developer can build X number of houses on it - and here's the convenient bit: those houses count towards the councils built homes plan, without the council having to build on a green field or whatever.

Why do you think no one ever gets convicted of starting these fires? because however pissed off councillors/planning staff are at the flagrant nature of this stuff, it's not in anyone's interests to stop the houses being built once the fire has taken hold.

I've been to this pub, I love half an hour away, Mrs K drives past it on the way to work.
 
Seems though there's some truth in the lane being blocked
"When we got there the lads had to work so hard because there were mounds of dirt that had been put in the road blocking the lane. They could have been put there as a security measure."
Because of the dirt blocking the lane leading to the pub, the crews had to park up about a third of the way up the lane and roll out about 40 lengths of hose to get a working water supply to the building itself, Chris said. The nearest hydrant is on the far side of Himley Road.
Click to expand...

It also seems it was obviously started deliberately, by setting fire to lots of tyres put behind the pub.

www.expressandstar.com

Firefighter recalls tackling Crooked House blaze - and how lane to iconic pub was blocked

One of the first firefighters to respond to a fire ripping through the historic Crooked House pub has told of his sadness at the iconic building's demise.
www.expressandstar.com www.expressandstar.com
 
That just convinces me that the "developer" was involved ... and Marston's need to accept partial responsibility because of their greed.

I can't believe that such an iconic pub was losing money in seriously large & long-term amounts. Even with the covid & cost-of-living crisis ...
 
StoneRoad said:
That just convinces me that the "developer" was involved ... and Marston's need to accept partial responsibility because of their greed.

I can't believe that such an iconic pub was losing money in seriously large & long-term amounts. Even with the covid & cost-of-living crisis ...
Click to expand...

Pub was dead pal. Never a pub with lots of locals: it’s in the middle of nowhere. It relied on visitors and people taking friends in. Never recovered from the pandemic, although Marstons didn’t exactly do much to support it.
 
Smokeandsteam said:
The police investigation doesn’t seem to have stopped the owners from burning down and then reducing a historic building to a pile of rubble in less than 48 hours.

Those plucky entrepreneurs eh…
Click to expand...

Very similar to what happened with The Elephant and Castle in Wolves a few years ago, which was literally demolished overnight. Some how they managed to salvage some of that and rebuild it at the Black Country Museum, but the museum have already stated they were not in a position to do that with the crooked house.
 
I hadn't appreciated that the pub isn't in the West Midlands Combined Authority area. Street's letter seems to confirm that the site is in Staffordshire. Also, quite incredible that the pub wasn't a listed building. Presumably that gives it far less protection than it otherwise would have had (although arson remains illegal).

Let's hope Staffordshire Council act, but given that they are also Tories I cannot imagine that cracking down on developers is their thing. Interfering with enterprise and the market etc...

 
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