This photograph of the Dolphin Inn in Kinson was found in a London bookshop by a niece of Mrs Violet Prior of Middlesex.

Violet and her brother used to live in Poole Lane, Kinson and their father was a regular customer at the pub.

Built in 1750 as a public house and stables, it is believed to be the oldest pub in Bournemouth.

It was known as the Dolphin and Chequer in 1771 when the landlord was John Potter and it was a used as a meeting place for smugglers.

In 1784 the inn was featured in The Rebellion when a quarter of the villagers fought customs men. John Potter and his wife Hannah are buried in the nearby St Andrew’s churchyard.

In 1903 the Olympic athlete Charles Bennett was in charge of the Dolphin. He won two gold medals in the 500 and 5000m races and a silver medal in the 4000m steeplechase three years earlier at the Paris Olympics.

In 1988 the Dolphin Inn was given a Grade Two listed building status by the Department of the Environment.

In 1993 it was renamed the Gulliver’s Tavern after the local smuggler Isaac Gulliver.

Can anyone date the picture? A clue could be the Carter’s Ringwood Ales sign on the front of the building. Email violetprior@yahoo.co.uk

• THE ORIGINAL Fox Inn in Bournemouth’s Terrace Road was a landmark of Bournemouth.

And, among its features, was a stained glass panel of a fox’s head that sat above the main entrance door.

Steve Phillips, who read with interest the recent Snapshots of the Past article about Bournemouth’s world champion boxer Freddie Mills, who was brought up in Terrace Road and the Fox Inn, has what he believes to be that stained glass panel. And he is hoping to locate a picture of the original pub that shows it in situ.

“When the first Fox Inn was demolished this stained glass panel was mounted in the canopy above the lounge bar of the new Fox Inn that was built across the road,” he said.

“Just before the pub was pulled down, I bought the stained glass from the landlady in order to remind me of the place where I used to hang out with my mates.”

The original Fox ceased trading in the 1960s. The Echo has a photo of it, donated by Roy White, showing it following its closure but the area above the door is boarded up and the stained glass panel cannot be seen. If anyone knows where he can locate a picture of the original Fox Inn (that ceased trading in the late 1960s), showing the stained glass panel in situ, Steve can be contacted at ST170@susanphillips.plus.com