Remembering the Wolverhampton pub which once honoured WW2 heroes before being razed to the ground
This was a disappeared Wolverhampton pub where regulars could have a few while toasting The Few.
September 15 is Battle of Britain Day, and it would surely have been remembered with pride by the regulars of the Battle of Britain pub in Penn.
Alas, this pub which honoured our RAF heroes became something of an embarrassment in its final days. It closed in November 2005 and then became a derelict eyesore, with the state of the building on the corner of Birchwood Road and Sandringham Road driving people living nearby to distraction.
It was a constant target for vandals and anti-social behaviour and was smashed up both inside and out.
Despite attempts by the real ale group Camra to save it, the bulldozers moved in in April 2008. Camra had claimed the pub could have been a thriving watering hole and that it had been poorly marketed ahead of its closure.
For residents, demolition saw one problem replaced by another, as the site became a blot on the landscape, covered in rubbish and broken glass. Eventually the site was redeveloped with housing.
But let's remember some better days of the pub. It was once a popular local, and was mentioned by TV chef Nigel Slater in his memoirs of growing up in Penn.
