Stewart Cross is celebrating 25 years at the helm of The Platform Tavern next week, making him one of the city's longest serving landlords.

"Someone's trying to steal my thunder though," he laughs.

Stewart - and The Queen - will celebrate the four-day bank holiday weekend with a whole host of live music.

Darren Vernall of The Silver Beatles fame, The Wang Dang Doodle and several local acts will appear at the pub during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

During Stewart's time in charge, The Platform has been renowned for being a top blues and R&B venue with up to four live gigs every week from the likes of celebrated blues singer and guitarist Ian Seagal and Grammy Award-winning American musician Alvin Youngblood Hart.

The pub, opposite Town Quay, was one of the big contributors to Southampton Plays For Ukraine, a week of live music in aid of the victims of war, raising £2,000.

The Platform, which offers as many craft ales as it possibly can, is an old fashioned boozer with great food and an eclectic mix of clientele. The 'Desperate Dan'-style gigantic pies go down a storm and up to 100 roast dinners are served up on a Sunday.

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The pub is a big draw for live music fans and ferry passengers. The office crowd has largely been lost since the pandemic, but cruise ship passengers are starting to return. Americans, in particular, love to visit the place where Leonardo di Caprio's character Jack Dawson won his tickets to board the ill-fated liner, which would have been berthed directly opposite the pub in 1912.

A plaque denotes the fact that first class steward on Titanic, James McGrady, listed the Platform Tavern as his address before being lost at sea aged 27.

Previously a private residence, it became a pub in 1873 and was once directly opposite the ceremonial canons erected on a platform on Platform Road.

Part of the ancient city walls is visible behind a glass panel in the bar. It's the only part of the walls, which date back to around 1350, to have never been rebuilt.

Stewart, who has previously been involved with both The Brook and The Dancing Man Brewery, told the Daily Echo: "In every man's heart, I think he wants his own pub!"

So, fresh from redundancy from a graphics job in 1997, he decided to give running a pub a try for six months.

In 1999, he purchased the pub, living accommodation and diner next door, putting the family home on the line to do so.

Quarter of a century later, he can't imagine doing anything else.

"It's very sociable and I'm a very social person," Stewart, who has recently celebrated his 60th birthday, continues.

"It's been a rough ride in some ways, but it's been a really enjoyable ride.

"The Platform lost its soul during the pandemic because we couldn't have live music. But we're back on the live music map. It's a great pub with a lovely ambience."

•  The Platform Tavern is our pub of the week. We love featuring Hampshire watering holes, from back street boozers to inns set in acres. If you'd like us to feature yours, click on the link below, visit dailyecho.co.uk/pub-of-the-week or email lorelei.reddin@dailyecho.co.uk

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