Husband of Crooked House pub owner suffered major fire on firm’s landfill site

Jamie Bullen
Wed, 16 August 2023 

The Crooked House, known as the country’s wonkiest pub, was destroyed by fire on Aug 5 - Jacob King/PA

The husband of the owner of the burnt down Crooked House pub previously experienced a major fire on land belonging to a company of which he is a director, it has emerged.

Land Registry documents show that Adam Taylor – whose wife Carly bought the 18th century pub in Himley, near Dudley in the West Midlands, in July – is a director of AT Contracting and Plant Hire, which owns a Buckinghamshire landfill site where a huge blaze broke out five years ago.

In August 2018, eight fire crews from across Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire tackled a fire at Finmere, where hundreds of tons of waste were engulfed by flames.


Firefighters pumped water from a nearby lake, with the incident happening during a spate of field fires across Oxfordshire in what was a hot and dry summer.

The cause of the Finmere fire was never established, a spokesman for Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue said.

A huge blaze broke out at the Finmere landfill site, in Buckinghamshire, in 2018

The Crooked House, known as the country’s wonkiest pub after it was affected by mining subsidence in the 19th century, was destroyed by fire on Aug 5 and demolished two days later without permission.

Staffordshire Police said it was treating the fire as arson, with calls growing for the pub to be rebuilt brick by brick. On Monday, hopes for a reconstruction were boosted when Historic England said it was considering “all possible avenues”.

“We offered our support to South Staffordshire Council last week and have been in regular contact with the council since to provide specialist advice as needed,” said a spokesman. “We are also happy to engage with the local community.”

The body said it had already received 36 applications for listed status for the pub site since the fire, but emphasised that no decision had yet been made. It had received two applications before the pub’s destruction.

Campaigners are calling for the Crooked House to be rebuilt brick by brick - Matthew Cooper/PA

Mrs Taylor, a 34-year-old former hair stylist, bought the 250-year-old building from Marston’s brewery in July. It had been listed for sale for £675,000.

The pub is accessed via a road owned by Himley Environmental, of which Mrs Taylor’s husband was a director until November 2021, and which operates as a landfill site a short distance from the Crooked House.

The couple are current or former directors of 18 companies, which include property development and waste management firms. They had previously bought another pub in the area with the aim of turning it into flats.

Locals have said they heard a “party with loud music” at the Crooked House hours before the fire was reported.

Tipton pub is now ‘Britain’s wonkiest’ boozer following loss of the Crooked House

Ed Chatterton
Wed, 16 August 2023

Carl Falconer who has been going to The Tilted Barrel pub for about 40 years.

 (Photo - Anita Maric / SWNS)

A Victorian Black Country boozer called The Tilted Barrel where pool balls ‘roll uphill’ is now Britain’s wonkiest pub following the loss of the Crooked House.

The 200-year-old pub in Tipton is just five miles away from its demolished counterpart which was burnt down in a suspected arson attack. The slanted premises is also wonky due to mining subsidence but unlike the Crooked House, the site is Grade II-listed, which will help protect its future.

Landlady Haych Mann, 38, who took over The Tilted Barrel in February, said it was ‘bitter sweet’ to possibly be the new ‘Britain’s wonkiest pub’. Haych has spent several months refurbishing the run-down premises - which has wonky door frames and tilted floors - to give it a new lease of life.

A Black Country boozer called The Tilted Barrel where pool balls ‘roll uphill’ is now Britain’s wonkiest pub (Photo - Anita Maric / SWNS)

She says she had to move the pool table to the other bar as it proved difficult to play in the lopsided room where balls seemingly roll uphill - just like the Crooked House.

But she’s vowed to keep the dartboard put as its slanted oche gives the pub’s darts team an advantage over visiting players.

Haych, from Smethwick, said: “It’s a bitter sweet moment to know we might be Britain’s wonkiest pub now.

“Most of our regulars drank in the Crooked House too. I’m a local girl so I knew the pub well and we have lost an iconic pub in the Crooked House. So I’m both sad and proud at the same time to learn we might now have that title.

Carl Falconer who has been going to The Tilted Barrel pub for about 40 years. He is standing next to the shelf where pool balls roll up instead of down. 

“It’s certainly not something I’m celebrating as the Crooked House was a landmark and a piece of Black Country history. Our pub is Grade II listed which should offer it more protection if, god forbid, the same thing would ever happen here.”

Haych took over her first ever pub on a 15 year lease after ‘falling in love’ with the quirky features of The Tilted Barrel, which was built in 1820.

It boasts a door more crooked than the building itself, an uneven bar and a shelf which features the illusion of items being able to roll up instead of down.

She added: “I just fell in love with the place. It was just really unique and quirky.

“It was a bit run down when I took it over, I couldn’t believe people were drinking in here in the state it was in but at the same time I thought it was brilliant. We’ve had a refurb and business is picking up as people have read about us online.

“I looked at a few pubs, which were probably nicer, but this one was different and it really appealed to me. I wouldn’t usually take over a pub which was doing badly but this one just seemed special and I thought ‘why not?’.

“The pool table was hard to play on, they built a stage to keep the balls running straight but because of the slanted walls it was a bit disorientating. So we have moved it into the back room but I’m keeping the darts board where it is.

“That’s because our darts team hardly lose. They know how to play on the slant but when other teams play it can really throw players off. We have two staff working here and I help out on weekends when it’s busier too. This is my first pub and I really enjoy it.

“Its just the floors in the back room that need doing now. But that’s proving a challenge because of the slanted floor. However we’re getting there and I’m looking forward to what the future holds for this other historic crooked pub.”

Pub regular Carl Falconer, 46, a plasterer from Tipton, has been going to the pub for 40 years since he was a young boy.

The dad-of-one said: “It’s a great pub. It’s very family orientated and everybody knows everybody. I’m used to it wonkiness now.

“But I imagine anyone who walks in there for the first time will think ‘wow this is crazy’. I’ve been going since I was a young boy with my dad as it’s on my doorstep. Way back when it used to have massive steel girders propping it up.

“The building itself goes back to the 19th century I believe but it started to drop in the 1930s. It now sits naturally as this strange angle. The funniest part is the darts teams who come here. The floor used to be much more slanted but it’s still on a slope now.

“When you threw a dart - you’d have to walk downhill to fetch it from the board. Away teams hated it so they tried levelling the floor off a bit but we still have the advantage. It’s got all these quirky features. I’ve also got to take my hat off to the tiler who did the tiles in the wonky gents toilet as those cuts could not have been easy.”