Teacher recreates Crooked House pub using Lego

Chris Weaver has recreated the Crooked House using Lego

A teacher has spent six months and hundreds of pounds recreating the Crooked House pub with Lego.

Chris Weaver, from Dudley, decided to construct the wonky venue’s miniature clone not long after it was demolished following a fire on 5 August last year.

The 39-year-old, who lives about a mile from the Himley pub, said he had fond memories of visiting it, and wanted to help raise awareness of the campaign to get it rebuilt.

His creation used between 7,000 and 8,000 Lego bricks costing him £700 to £800 in total.

Mr Weaver said: “I thought it would be quite a challenge because it’s very different to normal buildings.

“I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. I was thinking ‘I’ve spent a few hundred quid here, is it going to look any good’?"

The project took about six months to complete

Mr Weaver said he loved Lego when he was a child and his passion was rekindled when his two young sons picked up the hobby.

During the Covid lockdown, when he had “nowhere to go and nothing to do”, the Wolverhampton Wanderers season ticket holder decided to build Molineux Stadium.

The project took him 18 months and he spent more than £1,000 purchasing thousands of Lego bricks online.

Chris Weaver lives about a mile from the venue

He had not found anything else he wanted to spend the time and money recreating until he saw the news about the 18th-century pub’s demise.

Mr Weaver said he enjoyed building the pub and even recreated the interior, including the seating and bar.

“I’d be spending a good few hours on it when the kids were in bed. I’d start at 10 o’clock and think ‘oh I’ll just spend an hour on it’, then you look at the time and it's 3 o’clock in the morning,” he said.

Chris Weaver previously recreated Molineux Stadium with Lego

He hoped doing this would help to raise the profile of the campaign to rebuild the Crooked House brick by brick, launched in the wake of the demolition.

Mr Weaver lamented the fact that he had not been able to take his children there, adding: “It’s about preserving our local heritage for future generations.”

The model will be showcased at the Black Country Brick Show in West Bromwich this April and Mr Weaver wants to raise money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

The Crooked House was demolished following a fire in August

Staffordshire Police is treating the blaze as arson. Five men and one woman were arrested in connection with the fire and remain on bail.

The Save the Crooked House campaign group and contractors agreed to secure the 25,000 bricks from the building and they were kept in padlocked containers.