MEMORIES of Eldridge Pope brewery in Dorchester can be enjoyed thanks to Portlander Brian Knight's photo collection.

He has opened up his photo album to share pictures of the opening of the brewery's new plant in Dorchester.

It's unclear exactly which year this was, but the photos feature Brian's father Arthur, who was the chairman of North Portland Working Men's Club, which was based in Fortuneswell in East Street. In one of the pictures we can also see Christopher Pope, MD of Eldridge Pope and Denis Holliday, MBE, head brewer of Eldridge Pope.

As Brian explains, Arthur was given the honour of helping to open the plant after winning a competition.

Arthur said: "Eldridge Pope brought out a new lager and did a competition to see who sold the most lager. And whoever it was had the opportunity of opening the new plant. North Portland Working Men's Club sold the most and my father had the honour of opening the new plant in Dorchester."

Arthur remained chairman of the working men's club for many years.

Brian said his family has been on Portland for years.

He said Arthur was a coal merchant on Portland. When there was a shipwreck on the island he would be deployed to help with the breeches buoy.

This crude rope-based rescue device would extract people from wrecked vessels. It would be deployed from ship to shore using a rocket system.

Brian said: "My dad used to help fire a rocket and and then use the rope to help haul the ship back and forth."

Arthur was 80 when he passed away in 1980. He was the provincial grand primo of fraternal organisation the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, a picture of which you can see here.

Brian was born on Portland but spent a lot of time away from the island after he was called up in 1939. He was living in Southill, Weymouth when he got called away to the Army.

"I never really came back again for many years," he said.

"I moved around the country a bit then I came back to Portland."

In his time living away from Portland, Brian worked for the ministry for 20 years. He also lived in west Wales, an area he found to be similarly beautiful to Portland.

One of the memories that stays with Brian the most from his youth relates to the Belvedere pub in Weymouth.

"When I was 15 I used to go to dances at the Sidney Hall in Weymouth," he said.

"One Christmas we were at a dance when a friend suggested going to the Belvedere for a drink. Both of us were very large lads so we got served easily. My friend wanted to drink rough cider and when I tasted it I said 'how can you drink this, I don't think I can feel my teeth!

"However I managed three pints, then we went back to the Sidney Hall and I was so wobbly, I just couldn't walk! I think I ended up on my bottom and I had to walk all the way home to Southill in Weymouth!"

Another of Brian's most enduring memories is the preparations in Weymouth for D-Day.

He said: "At Ferrybridge where the car park is now and the cafe, I remember seeing all that space full of the Americans' vehicles. It was quite the sight."

Also from Brian's collection, we bring you this picture of former football referee Paul Durkin, from Portland.

Paul is sat on the left next to Arthur Knight in the middle and the pair are holding trophies next to an unknown man. Paul officiated in the Premier League and major international tournaments including the 1998 World Cup in France.

Thanks to Brian for sharing his photo collection with us,