Nowhere in the world was more devastated by the sinking of the RMS Titanic than Southampton, England.
Nowhere in the world was more devastated by the sinking of the RMS Titanic than Southampton.
A hundred years after the gigantic liner set sail from its harbour on the south coast, Southampton’s Sea City Museum opens this month in a former magistrates’ court. The museum recounts the stories of more than 500 households in the city that lost family members in the tragedy – among them Edward Smith, the captain who followed his ship down to the icy depths of the Atlantic. Exhibits on display include a steward’s watch that stopped minutes before the Titanic sank and a menu nabbed as a memento before the ship fatefully steamed off over the horizon. There are also exhibits from other key episodes in the city’s maritime history on display – from Saxon jewellery to intricate model ships that French prisoners of war made out of bones during the Napoleonic Wars.
How do I make it happen?
Southampton’s Sea City Museum opens on 10 April (admission £8.50).
Direct trains run to Southampton from London Waterloo (from £40) and Cardiff Central (from £15).
Stay at the Pig Hotel, a country house set in verdant grounds in the New Forest, a short drive outside Southampton (from £125).