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Demolished pub The Crooked House commemorated at beer festival
Beer glasses embossed with the image of the demolished pub The Crooked House will be on sale at the upcoming Dudley Winter Ales Fayre to support the campaign to rebuild the establishment.
The move by the Dudley and South Staffordshire group of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) comes after the Himley-based pub was demolished this August after a fire at the site, with the pub chosen as a symbol for this year’s event following its tragic demise.
Local politicians, including West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, have called for the historic ‘wonky’ pub to be rebuilt ‘brick by brick’ and a local campaign group called Save The Crooked House (Let’s Get it Re-built) has also been set up. The demolition of the pub was described as a “national tragedy” by CAMRA at the time.
Glasses with the image of the pub on them can be bought in advance of the festival, which will feature 60 beers from West Midlands breweries and opens on Thursday, with admission free to CAMRA members.
The group aiming to rebuild the pub will also be in attendance at the beer festival to publicise their campaign, and to raise awareness of the need to protect pubs and step-up efforts.
The Crooked House will also feature on T-shirts, hoodies and beanies that are on sale at the festival.
Chairman of the Dudley and South Staffordshire branch of CAMRA, John Corser, told the local paper: “We hope that people will come along to try the range of great beers that are brewed across the West Midlands. “We are hosting two competitions for West Midlands CAMRA on the opening day and real ale fans from all over the country are coming in the wake of the loss of The Crooked House. We wanted to ensure they got a taste of the beers brewed by the great breweries we have in this area.
“We hope it will encourage people to support their local pubs and encourage them to continue to offer cask ale.
“The committee, especially festival organiser Robin Shields, has worked really hard in putting on the winter ales fayre this year.”