The Cooperage pub- the only remaining timber-framed building in Newcastle- has laid empty for over a decade, and is in a sorry state of repair. The current owners- Famed Pub conservationists – The Apartment Group, have got tired waiting for the pub to fall down and have decided to erect scaffolding to ensure its easier access for would-be arsonists to enter the building and put it out of its misery. 

Hopefully, the mysterious fire will finally free up that fine piece of land so they can build apartments just in time for the crippling economic downturn.