Iconic Crooked House pub gets facelift as roof is fixed

The Crooked House in Himley has been a focal point in the community since the 1830s due to its unique look, with one side of the building standing at four feet (1.2 metres) lower than the other due to 19th century mining subsidence.

The pub has been a popular stop for tourists keen to get an image of the slanted pub, but it had been left looking dated towards the end of 2022 due to thinning and discoloured roof tiles.

Matt Clifft, of Vintage Leadwork & Roofing, lead the work on fixing the roof and said the job was a dream one for him, as his parents and uncles had all been to the pub in the past.

He said: "I've done many historic buildings in the past, but this one was special because my mum and dad came here in the 1970s and my uncles all drank here, so it's really special to me.

"When Andrew Jones from AJ Roofing gave us the opportunity to do the work, I jumped at the chance as we specialise in that sort of building and we went from doing the back to doing the whole building as well.

"I'm just pleased it's given the place a new lease of life."

Lee Goodchild, who is tenant and co-manager of the pub, said an inspection by health inspectors in September had found that work had needed to be done to fix the roof.

He said: "We first looked at it in September and realised that work needed to be done, so we had the inspection and found there was asbestos in the roof, plus a lot of work that needed doing around the electrics and waterworks.

"We spoke to Marston's about getting contractors in to do the work on the roof and that led to Vintage Leadwork & Roofing as they had used them before and they said they were the one of the best for the job."

The work by Vintage Leadwork & Roofing saw the old tiles completely removed alongside asbestos, then new tiles added to the roof matching the previous tiles as closely as possible.

Mr Goodchild said the work started in December and was completed over a six-week period, and spoke warmly of the work done by the team from Vintage Leadwork & Roofing.

He said: "The only thing that it really affected in that time, as we didn't lose any trade, was that people couldn't really take photos of the pub, as they didn't want to take pics of scaffolding.

"The majority of the work was done in January as that's the quieter time for us and I have to say I'm very impressed with the work they've done.

"They've just done a great and job and I said to the guys who were working here that they did a great job and really kept the character of what is an iconic building which is known worldwide."