Shooting Star is situated in Southampton’s Bevois Valley area. The pub’s interior is open plan, its walls are painted lime green and aubergine and there’s a pool table, a jukebox, and pinball machines, plus there’s an outdoor beer garden.
At the bar I asked Nathan if Jack was available. Nathan told me that Jack was upstairs napping and to wait for another hour or so.
While I waited, I necked a green martian, one of Shooting Star’s pint cocktails (made with double vodka, blue curacao, orange juice and lemonade); also, I was introduced to Smudge, the pub’s dog.
Crowded around the bar were members of a whiskey club who had just come from a tasting session. A woman named Jo handed round her home-baked sticky ginger cake to help soak up the whiskey.
Much of Jo’s cake found its way to the pub’s resident hoover, Smudge.
I was also given a piece to try.
Jo told me she has lived in the Bevois Valley Area for many years and recounted the chronology of the pub as far back as she could remember. Prior to it being Shooting Star it was a jazz bar named ‘Kolebka’ – Polish for welcome. Before Kolebka it was a student dive called Legends, before Legends it was an Irish pub called O’Malley’s and before O’Malleys it was called Stolen Inns.
After about an hour, Nathan took the picture frame up to Jack and came back with instructions for me to see Dave, up the road, at The Rockstone.
For the montage I was given a shooting star branded lanyard which gives 10% off the price of purchases made at Shooting Star.
Pocket Number 11: Dave(s) at The Rockstone >>
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