HERE is our fifteenth selection from the huge archive of Swindon pub photographs taken by Mike Dolman in the mid-1980s.

Mr Dolman, 60, is a retired civil servant who lives in Rodbourne Cheney.

Having bought a Canon AE1 SLR camera from a colleague, he decided that photographing pubs throughout the Swindon area and beyond would be a good way of improving his skills.

The result is a unique collection which he has decided to share with Swindon Advertiser readers.

Our previous selections from his work can be found at www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk

THE BREWERS ARMS, WANBOROUGH

THE rather bleak car park is landscaped and has tables these days, and the building sports a warmer paint scheme in pale salmon pink, but The Brewers Arms is instantly recognisable from Mr Dolman’s photograph. The pub dates back to the mid-19th century and was once home to a brewery. It has been an Arkells House since 1873 and was extensively refurbished about two decades after this image was captured.

POST HOUSE HOTEL, SWINDON

AS with many of the images in this series, the Post House in Liden is clearly recognisable. Its architecture is typical of new low-rise hotels of the 1970s and 1980s, although it has been modernised and brightened in recent years. The hotel now operates under the Holiday Inn banner.

BUTCHERS ARMS, GREATFIELD

READERS familiar with the area’s pubs and their history will recognise the Butcher’s Arms instantly. Younger ones and music fans from outside the area will ask: “Isn’t that Riffs Bar?” The Butchers Arms was closed by the early years of the century, but in 2003 the venue rose like the proverbial Phoenix and is now a very popular draw on the live music circuit.

CARPENTERS ARMS, SOUTH MARSTON

THIS Arkells inn remains a familiar part of the South Marston landscape, although what was once a small pub dating back to the early 19th Century was significantly expanded and refurbished in the 1990s. It offers not just drinks and food but also accommodation. The Carpenters Arms has been in the hands of Arkells since 1881.

THE RED LION, SWINDON

WHEN Mr Dolman took this photograph in the mid-1980s, this striking building in The Street, Moredon, had only another few years ahead of it as The Red Lion. In 1990 it was given a thorough refurbishment and a change of name to The Boundary House, in recognition of its having stood at the traditional boundary between Swindon and the small community of Moredon. Up and running at least as early as 1861, it became an Arkells house 16 years later.

THE FREKE ARMS, SWANBOROUGH, NEAR HIGHWORTH

DATING back about 200 years, the pub is named after the man who had it built, a member of the wealthy Freke family based in nearby Hannington. It was acquired by Arkells in 1892 and is reputedly haunted.

THE NEW INN, STRATTON ST MARGARET

THE photograph shows a style of décor common to many pubs during the 1980s. These days the New Inn is a vibrant sports bar. It dates back more than 150 years and has been part of the Arkells stable since 1884.

THE NINE ELMS, SHAW

THE Nine Elms prides itself on being a friendly local pub and a cornerstone of community life, just as it did during the era when this photograph was taken. It thrives in spite of road alterations associated with the building of West Swindon having made it more difficult for passing trade to find.