When can we go back to drinking in Dorset's oldest pubs?

These long-serving watering holes have been refreshing the palates of patrons for decades in Bournemouth and the surrounding areas.

Poole pubs have not been included in this list – that's a story for another day.

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The Cricketers – Windham Road, Bournemouth

At more than 170-years-old, The Cricketers is one of the oldest pubs in Bournemouth and its history is somewhat murky.

The pub, which pre-dates Bournemouth railway station by nearly 40 years, was originally the Cricketers Hotel named after the cricket ground that once existed on land opposite, on the council works beyond where the railway line now runs.

The original stables and coach house is still there and heritage experts reckon the front of the pub was extended a short distance around 1910. The stained glass windows and the bar are thought to date from the same time and, according to stories handed down by regulars, the bar was taken from a cruise ship.

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Ye Olde George Inn - 2A Castle Street, Christchurch

This Castle Street pub is steeped in history – at least 150 years of it!

Ye Old George Inn was once a coaching inn where prisoners were held captive before they were deported to Australia.

The 14th century coaching inn includes a priest hole used during Henry VIII’s reformation as well as medieval tunnels that run from the pub to the castle.

The pub is often said to be haunted with a Victorian print that often falls off the wall, sightings of plates spinning on tables and rumours of ghosts.

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The Avon Causeway Hotel – Hurn, Christchurch

The hotel, which was once Hurn Railway Station, was built in the 1860s.

The station closed in the 1930s and became a hotel and pub.

The pubs theme is very much steeped in the buildings history with relics from its railway days preserved and proudly displayed around the venue.

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The London Tavern - Linford Rd, Ringwood.

The London Tavern have been whetting the whistles of thirsty people of Poulner and those travelling through since the 1860s.

It was at that time when a Mr Robberts – the resident of the property which was a house at the time ­– was struggling to find brandy locally for a lady who was taken ill.

Annoyed by the paucity of the medicinal liquor, he decided to open a pub in his home.

Robberts was known locally as “Johnnie Londoner” because of his connections with the city, and so the name The London Tavern was born.

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The Olive Branch - 6 East Borough, Wimborne

The Olive Branch was purchased by Hall and Woodhouse in 1964 and changed name from The Dormers in 2003.

The new name came from the Roman tradition of hanging olive branches outside taverns as a symbol of peace.

The Olive Branch occupies a Grade II listed building.

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The Railway Inn – 2 Stour Road, ChristchurchThe Railway Inn has been used as a pub for at least a century.

The venue still enjoys the traditional two bar setup that has disappeared from the vast majority of pubs still around today.

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The Acorn - Kinson

The Acorn was built in the early 18th century as a coaching inn and has been known as The Dolphin Inn, The Dolphin and Chequer and Gullivers Tavern.

The later was named so after the famous smuggler Isaac Gulliver who used Kinson as his headquarters.

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