Coffee morning 18th April 2024

This month’s speaker was Andy French who gave a full and informative account about Morecambe and Wise, his talk was well received by our membership and I am sure we will see him return at some time in the future.


The Crooked House – A part of History

It was sad news when it came on the television about the Crooked House being on fire. A part of history destroyed in minutes. The Crooked House in the Black Country, was well-known for its slopping floors and crooked walls, caused by mining subsidence in the area. The pub attracted many people to the area, all wanting to see the crazy clocks with pendulums which appeared to defy the Laws of Gravity and witness the marble that appeared to run up a slopping table-top, all of which were talking points for all that witness it.

Located in Hamley in England’s Black Country, the building was originally a corn mill coppice house and was built in 1765, before it was converted into a pub in the 1830s. In the 1850s the building began gradually sinking until one end of the building was 4 feet (1.2 m) lower than the other, leaning at an angle of 15 degrees. The subsidence led the pub to become known locally as the “Siden House” (“siden” meaning “crooked”). In 2002 the pub was officially renamed the Crooked House, which had been its long-standing colloquial name.

The building was strengthened by buttresses in 1904, but the building was condemned in 1940s, as said to be unsafe and was scheduled for demolition. Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries purchased the pub and in 1957 made the structure safe using steel tie rods and strengthening the buttresses, investing £10,000 (approximately £260,000 in 2021) in doing so.

In 1986 the pub was damaged by a fire which affected the first floor and the roof. The following year the brewery spent £360,000 (approximately £1,000,000 in 2021) on renovations.

Britiain’s wonkiest pub was put up for sale for £675,000 in March 2023. The sale was completed for the pub on 27th July for an undisclosed price to ATE Farms Ltd. Thousands of locals signed a petition to keep the pub as a public house, but it was reported that it had been sold “for alternative use” and was unlikely to reopen as a pub.

Historic England received a request for the pub to be given listed status protection just a week before it burnt down. This level of protection would require property owners to seek permission from the local council to change the physical features of historical buildings and landmarks. The organisation The Georgian Group was also examining the historic pub for listed status prior to the fire.

5th August 2023, a fire gutted the pub’s interior and destroyed part of the structure including the roof. The Fire Service was unable to access the area due to 8 foot mound of earth blocking the only lane leading to the building. Staffordshire Police have confirmed they treating the blaze as arson in a joint investigation with fire services and the council. Only two days after the fire the owners managed to have the 8 foot high mounts of dirt moved, allowing them to gain access and then have the remains of the crooked house, which was now only an empty shall demolished leaving local residents in up raw. The owners were ordered to rebuild it, but has now won the right to appeal giving them to spring 2025, postponing the public inquiry.

St George’s Day at Harrison’s Club, Great Wyrley

 Can’t wait to see you all at Harrisons Sports & Social Club on Saturday 20th April for St George’s Day. On our stall we will have special offers on our local Great Wyrley history books, £3.00 each or 2 for £5.00, a raffle for a variety of prizes and also some craft ideas for sale. Great Value & a Great Day out with lots more interesting stalls for all the family. Fete on field stalls and refreshments 12noon – 4pm.

There will be many craft ideas for sale on the day. We also have a regular craft table at our monthly Coffee Morning.

Coffee morning 21st March 2024

It was great to see so many people attend our coffee morning and chat about old times in the village. There was old photographs & maps to look at and much more in our archives, available to look at on request. This morning we had a guest speaker Ray Sturdy talking about the ‘Real Dad’s Army,’ the talk was poorly delivered and in an un-professional manner,. The committee left very let down by today’s speaker andneedless to say this speaker will not be invited back in the future. Our April guest speaker is Andy French talking about ‘Morecombe and Wise’ and is going to be an interesting talk.

Coffee Morning 16th February 2024

The guest speaker was Penny Wheat who gave a talk entitled Behind Bars, she gave an account of a journey she went on communicating with inmates in various prisons both in the UK and the U.S.A. She also displayed a table full of gifts sent to her from inmates, the art work of which was astounding.

Penny Wheat giving a talk on Behind Prison Bars

Newsletter & AGM January 2024

First coffee morning of 2024, a happy New Year to all our members, future members and our committee.

This mornings speaker was Mr Ned Williams who gave a talk about prefabs, people of a certain age will remember the ones we had on the village before the new estates were built. He gave a comprehensive account about prefabs dating from 1910 up until the time they began to disappear in the 50’s & 60’s, the talk lasted for 1 hour and was very informative.

The ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING was also held, Welcome to all, this was our 14th AGM, thank you all for coming, Unfortunately Pam Ball is not very well; she has spent 18 days in hospital. I’ll start with Trevor’s part of the meeting, he is unable to attend the meeting. due to a doctors appointment, and he has left me with a brief resume. The year has been good beneficially even though things have increased in price, but saying that the membership subscription is staying as it is. We have made a donation to Landywood Voluntary Help Centre of £100, we had decided this before they unfortunately had their mini-bus stolen.

The printing cost for the magazine as increased in price, as with the room hire of the centre. The diaries that we gave out at Christmas had gone up, but we think they were worth it. We are managing well with our funds and are awaiting printing and binding prices for Paul Ford’s book, which we have put on one side.

Diane Tolley gave an insight of the last year’s activities; we are in the final throws of the publication of Paul Ford’s book on the Great War and how it affected not only the fallen, but the areas of Cheslyn Hay and Great Wyrley. This we will talk of in the coming months.

I feel 2023 was a good year for the society, with lots of things going on and luckily, no sign of Covid to stop us. We will be having another day out this year, which we are in talks now about on what to do; we shall aim for May again.

I want to thank all of the committee for their help, not forgetting Soeli Thomas, our local Graphic Designer for the society, for designing the society’s magazine, also for her managing the website over past year and especially to our members for making our Society what it is. 

To finish off, We are always asking for anybody to come and help out in anyway they can, either coming a committee member, helping on our Open Days, or helping at our Coffee Mornings when we need extra hands. We are a growing history society and appreciate any help we can get.

After Diane’s talk, the members were asked to vote for committee members, all were content with the existing committee members and a block vote with a show of hands carried it forward.