One of the last directors of Eldridge Pope led a walk around the former Dorchester brewery site at the weekend.

Jeremy Pope, known to former employees as ‘Mr Jamie’, led the tour as part of the Brew Dorchester weekend.

It started at the Brewhouse and Kitchen, once the Stationmaster’s House, before going around Brewery Square to look at the buildings once used for brewing - keg filling, malting and as a shop and bonded store.

Dorset Echo: Mr Pope’s great grandfather, Alfred, was credited with founding the company after striking a deal with the Eldridge family.

Mr Pope told the audience on his walking tour how the railway had been important in the development of the brewing business using it to send beer towards Portsmouth, Winchester and the London area at a time when there were few country inns, although the business did supply the New Inn at Cerne Abbas and The European in the Piddle Valley.

Among his stories was that of the visit, in the mid-1980s, of the transport minister whose trip to open the new Dorchester South station was delayed by three quarters of an hour by “leaves on the line”, which grabbed the headlines rather than the new station opening.

Mr Pope was joined on the tour by Dorchester resident, Len Watts, who brought along his 1947 dray lorry which he purchased for £25 from the company when it was selling it for scrap because it was considered to have too many miles on the clock.

Dorset Echo: Mr Watts said that with hundreds of thousands of miles since then the 4-litre engine is still going strong with almost all of its original parts.

Some of the outdoor Brew Dorchester events, including the ‘Beer Olympics’ were cancelled because of the weather, although indoor events continued - including a reunion of former Eldridge Pope employees.