Remembering happenings at Weymouth Harbour

Once a working harbour and with regular exports arriving from the Channel Islands, it was a key part of Weymouth's industry.

Today the harbour is more commonly a popular destination for eating and drinking.

A constant stream of yachts and motorboats parade down the water, waiting for the Town Bridge to rise before they can pass in or out of the inner harbour.

See pictures of old Weymouth and its heyday of steam trains here

For decades, pedestrians have crossed the harbour by taking one of the small rowing boats that ferry passengers from outside the pavilion to Nothe Parade on the opposite side, while fishermen have always unloaded their catch on the surrounding harbourside, making crab pots and fishing nets a common sight.

1994: Passengers use the cross harbour ferry to the Nothe

Until 2015, Condor Ferries would take passengers from Weymouth to France, until the harbour was deemed unsuitable and the terminal moved to Poole.

A photograph from August 1987 shows police officers surrounding a boat in Weymouth harbour upon which a shooting accident is said to have occurred. Can anyone shed light on the events that took place that summer?

Police aboard a boat in Weymouth Harbour, following an apparent shooting accident in 1987

Readers may remember the appearance of three massive gas production platforms, which moved into Weymouth Bay in March 1989. Known as "jackets", the platforms were sheltering in the waters until the weather improved.

In 1989, three platforms for gas production moved into Weymouth Bay to shelter from poor weather. The platforms were being guided by three Smitlloyd tugs and the tug Maasbank on their way to a site in Morecambe Bay

After frequent flooding throughout the 18th and 19th century, a scheme developed at the turn of the millennium sought to protect the town from future deluges. In 2002, a sea wall was built around the eastern and northern harbour in an effort to protect commercial and residential properties.

Dredging of the harbour takes place in 1981

The businesses surrounding the harbour have also changed over the decades, although the traditional B&Bs, fish and chip shops and waterside pubs remain.

The long-gone Diving Museum & Shipwreck Centre

Project manager Graham Buxton-Smith, left, talks to Paul Webb and Steve Soltesz about the harbour relief scheme in 1998.

In 1987, this Scottish trawler began unloading mackerel on Weymouth Quay after a ruling by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Weymouth was designed as a port for importing mackerel because Scottish purseseiners fishing between Portland and Cherbourg were finding it too far to travel to take their catches to Penzance, Newlyn, Falmouth and Plymouth. The trawler pictured, the Heritage, was from Banff and unloaded 32 tons of mackerel

An aerial view of Weymouth Harbour, 1990

1989: two people attempt to protect a dinghy at risk in choppy waters of the harbour

Mr Tony Hutt (left) is pictured watching another trolley pulled clear of the harbour in 1988

A large Dutch sailing ship arrives in Weymouth on a Saturday night in July 1988