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A new exhibition is raising a glass to the Pubs of Old Dover – as Dover Museum opens its latest Stairwell Exhibition, featuring a range of photographs and items relating to the pubs and hotels of the town.

Back in the 1880s, Dover had 300 pubs and beerhouses, or 1 per 100 inhabitants, when most other towns of similar size at that time had 1 per 1,000 or higher.

It was for this reason that Dover became known as “the town with a different pub for every day of the year.”

The Compensation Act of 1904 aimed to reduce the number of pubs nationally. This had a dramatic effect on Dover over the next 30 years, especially as at the same time projects by Dover Corporation, and the redevelopment of the docks by Dover Harbour Board saw the demolition of many of the old streets and their pubs.

Many more were lost in the destruction caused by bombs and shells during the Second World War, and by 1969 there were 81 pubs left open in the town.

The exhibition is open from now until the end of May. For more information, please call Dover Museum on (01304) 201066 or log onto www.dovermuseum.co.uk