22 November 2023 , 23:05
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Britain's new wonkiest pub has been sold three months after the old title-holder the Crooked House burned down.
Pool balls are said to roll uphill due to a slant caused by mining subsidence at the 200-year-old Tilted Barrel in Tipton, in the West Midlands, a Grade II-listed boozer. It failed to secure interest at auction but a buyer came forward later, according to Cottons Chartered Surveyors. Auctioneers confirmed it sold within the guide price of £170,000 to £178,000 on October 25.
It got its nickname after The Crooked House pub - just five miles away in Himley - was knocked down after being gutted by a blaze in August. Tilted Barrel landlady Haych Mann, 38, had said the mantle was "bitter sweet", while residents demanded the neighbouring pub be rebuilt "brick by brick". It's not clear if Haych will remain in charge with the change of hands.
The Tilted Barrel has sold at auction (Anita Maric / SWNS)Haych only took over the pub last February and had spent months refurbishing the run-down premises - which has wonky door frames and tilted floors - to give it a new lease of life. She said 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 vowed to keep the dartboard put as its slanted oche gives the pub's darts team an advantage over visiting players.
The Crooked House was demolished after a fire engulfed the iconic pub in August (BPM Media)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.
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"So I'm both sad and proud at the same time to learn we might now have that title. 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."