For more than 150 years the Platform Tavern has been a fixture of Southampton’s waterfront in Town Quay.
Situated against the historic old town wall built around 1350, the pub's name is derived from its proximity to the Quay outside God's House called the Platform, which contained a gun battery.
Filled with history, it was the last known address of James McGrady – the last victim of the 1912 Titanic disaster to be recovered from the sea, was featured in James Cameron’s Hollywood film, and survived German bombing during the Blitz in World War II.
Stewart Cross, 62, has been landlord of the Platform for 27 years and he told the Echo the popularity of the pub has grown over time.
He said: “I remember when I first moved in here and it was quite quiet, and you might get a few people coming in from the marina for a drink.
“Now it’s completely different, we have our regulars who enjoy live music that we put on three times a week, but you also get plenty of tourists with the cruise ships being so close by.”
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READ MORE:Released in 1998 in the UK, the film Titanic became the highest grossing film of all time.
During one of its opening scenes, Leonardo DiCaprio – playing the ill-fated Jack Dawson – wins a ticket onboard the Titanic from gambling inside the Platform Tavern, which has seen people the world over visit the pub especially ever since.
“I went to the cinema to see it,” said Stewart.
“It came out about a year after I took the pub over and had no idea it was in the film. When I saw it, I think I stood up and said, ‘that’s my pub,’ before being told to sit back down.
“Now we have Americans, Germans, Scandinavians – people from all over coming in and saying: ‘Do you know your pub is in the film, Titanic?’
“They don’t realise the scene in the movie was shot on a soundstage in the Gulf of Mexico – but we’re certainly included in the film.”
As well as its links to history and film, the pub is also known for its live music – with the likes of former guitarist of The Rolling Stones, Dick Taylor, and Canadian musician, Colter Wall.
Manager of the Platform Tavern, Jeremy Menko, 29, said: “We’re really proud of our live music and the acts we’re able to get.
“We just had Music in the City and it just gets bigger and bigger each year.”
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