Farewell then, the Crooked House. The 18th-century pub, in the West Midlands village of Himley, hasn’t just stopped being a pub – it’s stopped existing, full stop. Just days after its sale to a private buyer for ‘alternative use’, the famously wonky building – where coins and marbles appeared to roll uphill – was gutted by fire and has now been demolished. Unsurprisingly this has given rise to suspicions aplenty, but we’re taking it as a chance to celebrate Britain’s oddest pubs. Step this way for underground tunnels, pubs without bars – and some very single-minded landlords…
Oliver Cromwell spent a night here and Inspector Morse visited in a 1990 episode
The Temple of Convenience, Manchester
The clue’s in the name: this place used to be a public toilet. Head down the steps and you’ll find a bar that’s, yes, compact, but also welcoming and well-stocked with all the drinks you’d expect, plus a few foreign beers you might not.
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