Inside 'Britain's drunkest pub' where the laws of physics don't seem to apply

A pub in the UK leaves visitors feeling seriously weird, and it’s not because of the alcoholic drinks that they sell. See if you can guess what it is about the place.

Obviously, they do still sell alcoholic drinks – and food as well – but there’s something seriously strange going on at the Glynne Arms in Staffordshire.

It’s a place where beer bottles seem to roll up tables, windows and doors seem out of plumb, and the general rules of gravity simply don’t apply.

The pub has even been dubbed ‘Britain’s drunkest pub’ because it is so unsettling and mind-boggling.

However – like with most things – there is a really simple explanation for this.

It all starts in Britain’s industrial past, and is partially explained by the fact that the Glynne Arms is better known as ‘The Crooked House’.

Wikimedia Commons/Peter Broster

While the house itself dates back to the mid-1700s, it was only in the mid 19^th century that it became unique.

Built near to mines on the outskirts of Himley – near to Dudley – there was a significant shift in the earth beneath the pub that left it lucky to be standing up.

Still, the pub stands there to this day, propped up by buttresses made of bricks and metal bars that keep the structure standing.

It has made things a little – let’s say – unusual inside, though.

A grandfather clock standing on the wall seems to be standing wonky, and the light fittings seem to be hanging at an angle.

If you place a bottle on a table that appears to be flat, it will seem to roll uphill.

Not great if you’ve had a skinful.

However, there’s nothing to worry about and the rules of physics do still apply here, it’s all just a big optical illusion.

You see, sometimes our eyes convince us that certain things should always be straight, meaning that when they aren’t we can be tricked into believing that other things are wonky.

Wikimedia Commons/Gordon Griffiths

Windows and doors – our eyes automatically assume – are straight, therefore when they aren’t other things can start to look askew.

That’s why things seem so out of whack in The Crooked House.

So, when you see a bottle rolling or sliding across a table, it’s because there is a slope, it’s just hard for you to register it.

Furthermore, when a marble rolls up a sideboard, once again it isn’t really.

That being said, it’s certainly an interesting feature for a pub, just make sure that you don’t consume enough alcohol for the whole place to start making sense.