Long gone Dorchester pubs we all miss

The county town has a long and rich history of popular watering holes where people would gather and enjoy a pint or two together.

Here we have some more memories and photos of our favourite long gone pubs.

The New Inn, South Street, Dorchester

This pub goes back a long way! Known landlords and landladies are Mrs Mary Jane Banks in 1911 and Walter Billett in 1915. More recently, Bill Trueman was landlord at this long gone inn in the county town's pedestrianised shopping street.

Apparently Bill didn't mess about - a well remembered sight is of Bill grabbing hold of a troublemaker and throwing him out of the pub!

It's now a hair salon and the plaque to the New Inn is still there today.

The New Inn used to be a haven of activity at weekends where many drinkers liked to meet up.

Mel Gosney remembers her nan working there: "This was the only place my nan ever had a job ,she was a barmaid in the 1940s , after that she was not allowed to work again as she married my grandad and he was of the generation when the women had the children and the men worked."

The Railway Tavern, 34 South Street, Dorchester

This pub, a Groves & Son pub, was opposite the New Inn. It's thought that this picture dates back to the early 1900s.

Old House at Home, 16 Salisbury Street, Dorchester

This former Fordington pub is now in residential use and is a grade II listed building.

Plume of Feathers, Princes Street, Dorchester

This Groves & Son pub has been closed for many years and was opposite where Argos is now. Next door was a butcher's called Hollins. Known as a proper 'spit and sawdust pub', The Plume of Feathers had a wooden floor, a skittle alley and table football.

Drinkers enjoyed the bread, cheese and pickled onions served there. A popular drink there was 'Stingo', which was barley wine! It also had an old coal heater with a chimney in the main bar which apparently made the environment very smoky! The large bar, with wooden barrels behind it, had coloured glass windows at face height. After the pub closed the building was an antiques shop for some time.

Three Mariners, 41 High Street East, Dorchester

This was once the Old Pale Ale Brewery and went out of business after Eldridge Pope built their brewery in 1880.

It has such a long history that it was mentioned in Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge! The landlord of the pub sold his wife to a sailor in the story. This venue was then the Three Mariners pub.

In 1934 the pub was run by Sid and Ethel Page, in later years Larry and Dorry Alner were landlady and landlord and the pub was famed for its sing-alongs on a Saturday night. It is thought it was a pub until the 1960s, but it has had various incarnations since.

In the 1970s it was the Royal British Legion Club and became Cunards night club in the 1980s. Run by Tony Adams, apparently it was the only night club to open on a Sunday! In the 90s the club became known as the Mariners.