The Greyhound pub was victim of an arson attack but although the outside is the same much work has been taking place inside.
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00:00Right, so we're in one of the rooms here George, and you were saying, the pub itself, the historic listing, it goes from just above there, doesn't it, to the front?
00:13To the front, that's the building. This was the outbuildings added on by the Banks' Brewery in the 60s.
00:21So that bit, you've kind of got free reign, that's not listed, it's the front section that's listed.
00:26You can see all the beams, you can see the difference in the two parts, you've got the old and the new.
00:33And when we can see, you know, the heat, it bloody, it melted.
00:37Yeah, we've had to keep the beams.
00:39The rest went for the melt and I'm around that end.
00:42All right, yeah, take us round, boys, lads, let's have a look.
00:44Yeah, show us where it's, do we know how it started? I mean, we know it was arson, but did someone push something through a letterbox?
00:52No, no, they smashed the windows, because before, when it was, because it's great to list it, they were single glazed, very thin windows with leaded,
01:01and then they smashed, this window was smashed, and this is where the fire started in this room.
01:08Got you, okay.
01:09So, the windows were easy to break, they're bloody thin.
01:12Yeah, yeah.
01:13But we've replaced the windows now, temporary, we're talking to Wolverhampton Council, James Holliday,
01:19we've had to put these windows in now, double laminated.
01:22Yeah.
01:23So, like, shatterproof, like a weak, hard windscreen.
01:25Yeah.
01:26You can't break these.
01:27Yeah.
01:28They're really expensive.
01:29So, we've put these in now.
01:31So, in terms of, so, you've got the, so what was, what damage was done in here?
01:35I mean, structurally then, the roof and everything, it actually looks all right, you know.
01:40This room, if you look in this room here.
01:42Yeah.
01:43We've built this room.
01:45This room was like that room.
01:47Yeah.
01:48Obviously, this thing caught fire, so we've renovated this, we've done this now.
01:52It's just seating and the flooring to do now.
01:54Yeah.
01:55In this room.
01:56But that room in there was like this.
01:58Because the fire started in that room.
01:59Yeah.
02:00It was bad.
02:01We couldn't save the panelling in that room.
02:03Oh, so we had wooden panelling in there.
02:05Ah, got you.
02:06Yeah.
02:07We couldn't save that, it burnt that room.
02:08Got you, okay.
02:09Destroyed that room when the fire started.
02:11But this room, we've been able to save it.
02:13Yeah.
02:14We've redone the beams.
02:15Yeah.
02:16Back to normal.
02:18Lined plaster done and everything.
02:20Yeah.
02:21So this room is literally done.
02:22Just the flooring.
02:23But I don't want to do the flooring until the end when we open.
02:26Yeah.
02:27Of course.
02:28Yeah, because you're still working.
02:29We're still working on it.
02:30So just take us back through, George.
02:31So obviously, this room at the front comes under the listing then.
02:34Yes.
02:35So what does that mean in terms of what are you hoping to do, like a recreation of the panelling?
02:39Or what's the situation on...
02:41This is where we needed help from British Editing because obviously we can't do that.
02:45But talking to James Holliday from Wolverhampton Council, yeah?
02:49Yeah.
02:50He said you can do a temporary fixing for now.
02:52Yeah.
02:53Because all it was, when Bansi's Brood, he took it over in the 60s.
02:56Yeah.
02:57They put a steel skeleton.
02:58If you look at these beams here.
02:59Yeah.
03:00This is steel to hold the building up.
03:02And the whole building has got like this inside steel skeleton in it.
03:06Oh, okay.
03:07Yeah.
03:08All they did was put the steel skeleton in.
03:09Yeah.
03:10And you can see this is brickwork, concrete.
03:11Yeah.
03:12This has been done in the 60s as well.
03:13Yeah.
03:14This ain't very old.
03:15That's brickwork.
03:16You can see this.
03:17Yeah.
03:18And all they did was put the panelling on top of that.
03:19Got, yeah.
03:20Okay.
03:21Which is okay, but there's no insulation.
03:23Yeah.
03:24So what I'm telling the council now, while it's burnt.
03:26Yeah.
03:27Behind you, we're going to put some 25mm insulation in.
03:30Ah yeah, you can see you've started on the wall there.
03:32To keep the heating, to keep the building warm.
03:33Yeah.
03:34And then panel over the top of that, if everything's okay.
03:36Yeah.
03:37So that's the sample we've done to show the council.
03:39Yeah.
03:40Look, can we go ahead and do this?
03:41Yeah.
03:42We've redone the windows and everything.
03:44Yeah.
03:45See the brickwork.
03:46Yeah.
03:47This ain't historic.
03:48This ain't 400 or 500 years old.
03:50Yeah, yeah.
03:51This has been done in the 60s.
03:52Yeah.
03:53That's one of these brickwork.
03:54And all they did was panel over the top of it.
03:55Yeah.
03:56Got that.
03:57You know what I mean?
03:58Yeah.
03:59So like listed wise, you can argue the case.
04:00Well all this work was done by the brewery in the 60s.
04:03Yeah.
04:04It ain't like it's 100 years old.
04:05Yeah.
04:06So in other words, let us just crack on with it and get it sorted.
04:09All of this is panelling now.
04:10We'll put it back to normal.
04:11Yeah, yeah.
04:12Because the beams have kept.
04:13Look, there's a full ceiling.
04:15There's a ceiling on there.
04:16There's a parquet ceiling, which is really nice.
04:18Yeah.
04:19Temporary, talking to the council, I said, we'll make this room like the other room.
04:23Yeah.
04:24What we've done is we've gone up into the ceiling now, exposed these beams that you
04:28couldn't see before.
04:29Yeah.
04:30So we're going to line plaster them and have this ceiling the same as that.
04:35Oh yeah.
04:36Got you.
04:37So all these beams that have been for years, there's nothing wrong with them.
04:40So how on earth did they survive the fire, those big beams?
04:44It's oak, isn't it?
04:45Wow.
04:46It's charred.
04:47It's a few mil.
04:48Yeah.
04:49So we scraped it back.
04:50Wow.
04:51And we resealed it and we're going to get it treated and get it painted.
04:56And what about externally on the building?
04:58Is it just cosmetic then?
04:59Is everything structurally?
05:00Externally, obviously we couldn't touch it externally over the years and everything.
05:03Yeah.
05:04We were trying to get help from heritage or whatever can do to repair it.
05:08Yeah.
05:09And we wasn't getting the funds because that's an expensive job that's going to be done by
05:13professionals.
05:14Yeah.
05:15And so we've had to leave it because we can't touch that.
05:17Yeah.
05:18And if we did touch it, they'd probably say, why did you do it?
05:21Yeah.
05:22Because you're not professional.
05:23So that's something for the future.
05:25But it's kind of, if people are looking going, oh God, is it about to fall down?
05:29That's not the case.
05:30No, no.
05:31If you look, like I said, it's got a steel skeleton in.
05:33Yeah.
05:34And all the solid beams, all the woodwork, the structure of the building is not a problem.
05:40Got the old bar here and we're coming to another room on the front here.
05:43This room got fire damaged as well.
05:46Yeah.
05:47Mainly heat.
05:48Yeah.
05:49We've redone the blind plaster of the ceiling.
05:50Yeah.
05:51Redone the beams and everything.
05:52Yeah.
05:53We've sanded back all the paneling.
05:56Yeah.
05:58And then took that back to, it's better than before, took that back to normal.
06:02Yeah.
06:03The only thing that's left in this room now is the windows.
06:05Yeah.
06:06And the seating and the flooring.
06:08Yeah.
06:09Everything else is done now in this room.
06:11Yeah.
06:12So 80 grand's been spent up till now.
06:15Yeah.
06:16So are you still waiting for the insurance to give you the money you need to finish?
06:21Well, this has happened in the last few weeks now.
06:24Talking to the company that owns the building,
06:27they're saying that the insurance company won't pay out
06:30because they've talked to British Heritage
06:33and British Heritage have said it was on a risk register, blah, blah, blah,
06:39in a state, some sort of state.
06:42I don't know.
06:43Yeah.
06:44This is what we need to solve.
06:45So at the minute, have they not paid out a penny?
06:48Insurance company.
06:49They won't because they're looking for any excuse.
06:51Yeah.
06:52So everything else, electrics, gas, certificates,
06:55everything regarding the building.
06:56Yeah.
06:57Is up to date and everything is fine.
06:59So it's, I mean, you know, we were on a little chat off camera.
07:02You just want the insurance company to pay you,
07:05basically, to get it to where it was before.
07:08You know, whether there were some crumbly bits before,
07:10you're not asking the insurance company to cover the cost of all that.
07:13Yeah, yeah.
07:14It's the insiders where the cost is caused.
07:16So that must be quite frustrating at the minute.
07:18Exactly.
07:19I mean, we're like 50% there.
07:21Yeah.
07:22Getting it back to normal.
07:23Obviously, then there's added costs.
07:25There's going to be like all the equipment.
07:27Yeah.
07:28Furniture, etc.
07:29Yeah.
07:30I mean, adding that in, yeah.
07:31Because that's going to mount up as well, isn't it?
07:32Yeah, yeah.
07:33Like all the tills has burnt and everything.
07:34Yeah, yeah.
07:35You know, everything you want to run upon.
07:37But it's fantastic.
07:38It's a lovely room.
07:39The structure of the building's fine.
07:41Yeah.
07:42If you look at the beams, everything's fine.
07:44It's a lovely room, though, with the light coming through.
07:46We've got it all back to what it was before.
07:50Like I say, just seating and the carpet in this room, really.
07:53What do we know about the building, then?
07:55Was it originally a pub?
07:57Right.
07:58The building, I think, if you Google it, in the 14th century, it was a manor house.
08:01Okay.
08:02Couch.
08:03Yeah.
08:04It was a stoic manor.
08:05Then it turned into a couch house.
08:07And then the brewery took his over as a pub in the 19th century, I believe.
08:12Yeah.
08:13Yeah.
08:14So you're just itching to kind of get it going again, aren't you?
08:18No, because it's a community pub.
08:20Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:21Obviously, since the fire, I haven't worked.
08:24Yeah.
08:25I've spent all my time coming here, literally seven days a week, getting to where you should be.
08:29Yeah.
08:30We use our own funding, thinking we've used our own funding to get a head start.
08:34Yeah.
08:35The insurance company pays us.
08:36Exactly, yeah.
08:37Because I can't sit at home doing nothing.
08:38Yeah.
08:39So me and a few friends, obviously, being in the pub, you get to meet tradesmen, don't you?
08:47I've had tradesmen come and help me on their days off and stuff like that.
08:51Yeah.
08:52To get it to this standard.
08:53So it's been a community effort, really?
08:55Yeah, it's been a community effort.
08:56Yeah, yeah.
08:57People have helped.
08:58So who actually owns it then, George?
09:01It's a company called Red Star.
09:03Yeah.
09:04Where are they based then?
09:05Do they own a lot of pubs around the country?
09:06There are four or five pubs.
09:07It's a five-million-run company.
09:09And the landlord's excellent with me.
09:12He's actually given me money as well to get cracking and do what we want to do.
09:17It's not a problem with the landlords.
09:18The problem is with the insurance company.
09:20Yeah.
09:21So you're a bit of a stalemate at the minute then?
09:24Yeah, exactly.
09:25Yeah, very frustrating.
09:26It's like the insurance companies will look at anything not to pay.
09:30Yeah.
09:31Yeah.
09:32So they're finding a little bit of the heritage.
09:34Yeah.
09:35It was in a bad way.
09:37Yeah.
09:39You're just asking for the stuff.
09:41I mean, obviously, you know, there might be, like we've discussed,
09:44there might be some crumbly bits here and there.
09:46Yeah.
09:47But you're not asking them to repair that.
09:48What you're saying is these pumps were damaged in the fire.
09:52So that's number one.
09:54Give us the money to replace the pumps.
09:56The carpet was damaged.
09:57Give us the money to replace that.
09:58The paneling.
09:59You know what I mean?
10:00Yeah.
10:01All the electrical stuff that you're having to pump, everything.
10:03Yeah.
10:04All the stuff that was purely damaged by the fire.
10:07Yeah.
10:08We have, like I said, structurally the building's safe.
10:11Not a problem.
10:13Yeah.
10:14And it's back to normal.
10:15Yeah.
10:16Every room's back.
10:17There's only three rooms enlisted in this bottom half of this pump.
10:19Yeah.
10:20And we're getting them done.
10:21And what about upstairs, George?
10:23Is that a resident?
10:24This is mostly smoke damage upstairs.
10:25Yeah.
10:26Yeah.
10:27That's mostly cosmetics.
10:28But we've got to lift the floorboards up and everything.
10:30Yeah.
10:31Because we've got to do all the rewinding, see.
10:32Yeah.
10:33So that's a lot of work.
10:34The rewinding's going to cost a lot of money.
10:35Yeah.
10:36We left that to late because we haven't got the funding for that.
10:39That's going to cost thousands.
10:40George.
10:41Yeah.
10:42Let's get you just, come and show us what you've done in here then.
10:44So this is the back of the pub.
10:45It's quite, I didn't realise it went back here.
10:47You've got quite a bit of space, haven't you?
10:48Yeah.
10:49This was all done in the two lockdowns.
10:51Yeah.
10:52We redid it.
10:53This was like buildings.
10:54Yeah.
10:55Sheds and stables and stuff.
10:56Yeah.
10:57So we redid this and made this into a, this was going to be more like a dining area because
11:03we were doing the kitchen output.
11:04Yeah.
11:05This was going to be a food outlet.
11:06We've got TVs in here as well.
11:08Four TVs for Sky Sports and everything.
11:10Yeah.
11:11So this, I mean, it was full of smoke damage and everything, wasn't it?
11:13Heaps of smoke damage.
11:14Yeah.
11:15It melted the TVs.
11:16Yeah.
11:17It was that bad.
11:18So we re-plasted.
11:19Yeah.
11:20Redone the ceilings.
11:21Yeah.
11:22The seats were saved.
11:23Yeah.
11:24The carpets had four or five washes.
11:25We were trying to save the carpet.
11:27Yeah.
11:28But all this room is redone.
11:29Yeah.
11:30All the electrics have been done.
11:32You were showing us.
11:33I mean, if we look on the roof, you've had to put bloody bars on the skylights, haven't
11:37you?
11:38Yeah.
11:39Yeah.
11:40That was after the fire, wasn't it?
11:41You had break-ins, yeah?
11:42We had four break-ins after the fires.
11:43Four break-ins.
11:44We had to put new shutters in over there.
11:45Yeah.
11:46Just show us through because then we can see where.
11:48So how much have you invested since the fire?
11:50Just doing what you've done up to now then, George?
11:52Me and the owner.
11:53Yeah.
11:54We've probably spent about up to 80 grand at the moment.
11:57Yeah.
11:58To get it to where it's going.
11:59So all new shutters and everything here.
12:01I mean, we can see, like you said, it's where the heat melted the light before.
12:05But you've had to double up on the security there.
12:07So what were they?
12:08After the fire, when they were breaking in, what were they hoping to get, George?
12:12What did they do?
12:13We just had some stock.
12:14Ah, okay.
12:15Mainly beer and stuff.
12:17Bottles of beer and spirits and that.
12:20Just those and much.
12:21Yeah.
12:22And then they went upstairs, nicked my TV and stuff.
12:25Ah.
12:26Accommodation.
12:27Yeah.
12:28They went upstairs.
12:29He had some personal items up there and everything.
12:31The time marker and his clock.
12:33Yeah.
12:34They nicked some of his stuff.
12:35Oh, Jesus.
12:36The stuff that was in the building.
12:37Yeah.
12:38Yeah.
12:39And they're trying to get into the bandits.
12:40But the bandits, we sorted out on the fire there because we knew.
12:42Yeah.
12:43So we took all the money out of the bandits.
12:44Yeah, yeah.
12:45And everything.
12:46They broke into the pool table, the bandits.
12:48Anything, jukebox.
12:49They'd rip the jukebox off the wall and everything.
12:51Jesus.
12:52Just anything they could help get hold of.
12:54Because these shutters wasn't on before.
12:57They had bars on here.
12:58Yeah.
12:59So we had to put new shutters on there.
13:00So that's all new.
13:01We had the skylights and stuff.
13:03We had bars on there before.
13:04Yeah.
13:05But they ripped the bars out.
13:06So we had to put these new bars in.
13:08Yeah.
13:09And then stop them coming in.
13:10Yeah.
13:11Because back in the building, nobody can see anything.
13:13See, it's all white.
13:14So they.
13:15Yeah, yeah.