HERE is another selection from the fascinating archive of pub images gathered by Swindon photographer Mike Dolman in the mid-1980s.
Now 60 and a retired civil servant, Mr Dolman toured dozens of pubs in and around Swindon after buying a Canon AE1 SLR camera from a former colleague who had tried to start a photography business.
Some of the places he froze in time are still in business, some have changed their names and images and others have vanished altogether.
THE DEER’S LEAP
Opened some 58 years ago, the imposing Deer’s Leap in Penhill has been serving the local community for almost as long as there has been a local community to serve. Designed in the style of a large old-fashioned farmhouse, it has stood through various refurbishments of the surrounding area.
THE CLIFTON HOTEL
The frontage of this popular Swindon pub is instantly recognisable, but the plot on which it sits has changed a great deal as public tastes have embraced outdoor drinking and dining. The building would have been a familiar sight to Hollywood star Pam Grier, of Jackie Brown fame, and Carry on legend Bernard Bresslaw. Both lived in Clifton Street as children, Grier as the child of an American serviceman and Bresslaw as a wartime evacuee.
THE CALLEY ARMS, HODSON
Although the cosmetic appearance of the exterior has changed considerably, the traditional country inn on Swindon’s doorstep is readily recognisable from the photo Mr Dolman took about 30 years ago.
THE GLADSTONE
Long since re-opened as the Irish-themed and very popular Tap & Barrel, the building which once housed The Gladstone is familiar due to its beautiful ornamentation. It stands on the corner of Manchester Road and Gladstone Street.
THE OLD VIC
The Wiltshire Hotel building in the centre of Swindon is a classic example of turn-of-the-1970s architecture, so much so that it once featured as a location in an episode of violent late-1970s detective series Target. The bar on its ground floor went through several changes of identity over the years, and in the mid-1980s was The Old Vic.
THE RED LION INN, CRICKLADE
Of the pubs outside Swindon visited by Mr Dolman, many have vanished or been converted into flats. The rest are mostly still easily recognisable. So it is with Cricklade’s Red Lion Inn, which for some years has also been home to the Hop Kettle Brewery.
THE WAGGON AND HORSES, WOOTTON BASSETT
Like all surviving Wootton Bassett pubs visited by Mr Dolman in the mid-1980s, The Waggon and Horses has changed its location without moving an inch. It is now The Waggon and Horses, Royal Wootton Bassett. Aside from that and a new paint scheme, it is unmistakable.
THE PRINCESS
This once beautiful building at the corner of Florence Street and Beatrice Street in Swindon was in the news earlier this year. We ran a story about a cannabis growing operation being found in what was described as the derelict Meerkat pub. When Mr Dolman took this photograph the building was The Princess, a Gorse Hill pub which had thrived since the beginning of the 20th century.
THE RODBOURNE ARMS
It was a sad day for lovers of Swindon history and Swindon pubs when The Rodbourne Arms was demolished in October of 2011. It had stood in Cheney Manor Road for 106 years. Locals remembered it as once having been at the heart of the community, hosting sports teams, clubs and even a parent teacher association. The site is occupied by a supermarket.
- Do you have memories of these pubs you'd like to share? Contact Barrie Hudson on 01793 501821 or email bhudson@swindonadvertiser.co.uk
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