WEST Dorset is home to a vast array of pubs immortalised by their association with books or writers.

And now people can make the most of what the county has to offer thanks to ‘A Reader’s Guide to the Literary Pubs & Inns of Dorset and Somerset’.

The book is a literary pub crawl around two of England’s ‘most beautiful and least spoilt shires’ following in the steps of famous and lesser known writers.

The Bull Hotel in Bridport landed a spot in the new publication along with the Rose & Crown in Bradford Abbas as well as The Bridport Arms at West Bay and the Royal Lion and The Bay Hotel, which are both based in Lyme Regis.

Author Terry Townsend said: “The book is a literary pub crawl around two of England’s most beautiful and least spoilt shires, following in the steps of famous and lesser known writers.

“Researching the background provided me with the great enjoyment of discovering books that I would not otherwise have read and journeying to places that I would not otherwise have seen. I hope the same might be true for you.

“Here are town pubs, country pubs, village pubs, riverside pubs and seaside pubs all with one thing in common – they have been immortalised by association with books or writers.”

The Bull Hotel is in the guide due to its association with author Thomas Hardy.

Hardy’s short story ‘Fellow Townsmen’ is set in Bridport and features the hotel throughout the novel.

Billy Lintell, marketing manager at The Bull Hotel, said: “Obviously, it is brilliant for us to be associated with someone as prestigious as Thomas Hardy and especially with ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ being filmed not too far away.”

She added: “We can’t wait to get a copy and read what Mr Townsend has said about the hotel.”

At one time the hotel was one of the most famous coaching inns in the west country and Mr Townsend says it is ‘one of those resilient, old fashioned hostelries that have somehow survived more than 500 years of England’s turbulent history’.

Hardy’s characters enter and exit the scene via the Bull’s stage-coach and the main characters leave and return to the location throughout the story.