That sounds intentional. It was bought, then it caught fire, the lane was blocked so firetrucks couldn’t gain direct access to it leading what looks like a total loss (minus the brickwork), and then it was suddenly demolished without anyone hearing about it? Sounds staged as hell to me; like the new owner knew people would be pissed if it got torn down, so they set it on fire and then used that as an excuse to demolish it.
We have precedent for things like this. Let’s hope the same happens here.
Wasn’t safe guv, some one (not me I promise) burnt it down you see, had to make it safe… by the way can I build here yet?
Things like this happen at least once a year in my home town. There was even a rumour that there might be a clandestine team of people for hire, kind of a pyromaniac version of the A-Team.
Whether or not that’s true, a few years back a then-recently-sold building had some pyromaniacs pay a visit, but they were careless and were seen and reported by people in neighbouring buildings.
The building survived virtually unscathed. And it has sat unused by the purchaser and undoubtedly watched by nearby buildings’ CCTV since then.
There have been others fires elsewhere since then (I can think of a tyre yard that went up for suspicious reasons), but nothing in particularly well populated areas that I can recall.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Photos emerged on social media on Monday afternoon showing a large pile of rubble where the pub once stood, shocking locals and former customers.
The property was built in 1765 as a farmhouse but, due to mining in the area during the early 19th Century, one side of the building began to sink.
On Monday, West Midlands mayor Andy Street said the fire was a tragedy but questions needed to be answered about its destruction.
Former Labour MP for Dudley North, Lord Ian Austin, an independent peer, tweeted it emerged during Saturday’s events the “lane to the pub” was “apparently blocked”.
The property was a popular attraction in the West Midlands for decades after Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries bought it and converted it into a pub in the 1940s.
Visitors flocked to see the distinctive building and witness the illusion of coins and marbles appearing to roll uphill along the bar.
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