Tag: closed

May 24th – Loss seemed to be a bit of a theme. I saw with some sadness that the Red Lion at Longdon Green had shut again. This pretty pub, on a lovely traditional village green, should have been rammed, the grass in front teeming with folk enjoying the summer. Sadly, it has closed in a dispute over £17,000 of rent claimed by the owners that the tenant is disputing. Recently, the Swan With Two Necks up at Longdon has closed too. It’s a bad time for country pubs, this one only having reopened last July. I love this place. Let’s hope it can reopen soon.

February 25th – Chasetown has always had an odd atmosphere to me. The hillside town – occasionally bustling, but usually giving the impression of any given place at 4pm on a Wednesday – has a really nice High Street, with lots of stable, longstanding traders. The street is on a considerable incline, which gives it atmosphere and character. Sadly, at the moment, the entire road is closed do to gas and sewerage works at the top of the hill by Sankey’s Corner, and at 4:30pm, the place was even more ghostly and deserted than usual.

Perhaps this is the time to stage what I’ve always fancied doing here – a decidedly low rent re-enactment of the stunning car chase from Bullit, on bicycles. In Chasetown High Street. Steve McQueen optional. You know it’d be a blast…

January 22nd – Still forlorn, abandoned and decaying to dust is The Rising Sun, at Brownhills West. One of Brownhills’ oldest pubs, it’s sad to see this place slide away. It doesn’t even appear to be for sale. Survivor of several arson and vandal attacks, the building clearly has some pride left. Can nobody be found to do something – anything – with it?

We’re gradually losing our history and culture, and it breaks my heart.

August 15th – I passed the sad, rotting hulk of The Wheel In, on Lindon Road, Brownhills this evening. Closed for several years now, this formerly buzzing community local is now quietly rotting, prospective buyers no doubt put off by the rumour spread locally that the building is suffering severe structural problems. I’m not sure if it is or not, but the rumour spread remarkably quickly. Curious.

I doubt this house will ever reopen. A tradgedy.