The rain falls relentlessly on Belfast.  The city looks grey, washed-out.  Damp shoppers run from one refuge to the next, soggy and uncomfortable.

But somewhere in the city there is a little oasis of warmth and light and laughter.  Somewhere with great scones and squashy sofas.  Somewhere you can watch the rain beat against the huge picture windows and wonder why on Earth anyone would be out there on a day like this.

Somewhere that you can get lost in a board game

Or join the knitters and knatterers

Or settle in for the day and get your teeth into the epic challenge of a mammoth jigsaw

Somewhere there’s always something interesting in the pop-up market

And where the Chaplain just might be crazy enough to do the Pilgrimage Walk at Titanic Belfast if anybody turned up from one of the more waterproof nationalities (go Belgians and Scots!!)

Somewhere that’s always getting better, looking for ways to expand and improve (the Dock DIY team spent the day sweeping and painting the floor ready for Dock Cafe to expand – it’s getting BIIGGGGGERRRR….!)

Somewhere that allows to you to eat your piece in peace (today our new sign went up in the TQ Mace, so that anyone buying a fresh deli sandwich or hot food in the shop knows that seats, tables, plates, knives and forks await them right next door)

Wouldn’t a place like that be a great spot to while away a rainy day?  Wouldn’t it in fact be a little slice of heaven on Earth?

 

I’m a man of few words, as y’know…. so for today I’m going to let the pictures do the talking.  It’s been a busy, exciting, joyful month of Life in the Titanic Quarter – here are some of the highlights:

There was the day I joined some of the lads from TQ Ltd and the Mace to try TQ’s latest greatest water sport: wakeboarding at the end of Titanic Slipways.

(In the interests of responsible journalism, I should point out that any pictures of someone successfully wakeboarding must be one of the other guys, as I spent most of the time upside down in the Lagan.  I can report that it tastes clean, but salty.)

Speaking of responsible journalism, this blog has won a prize!  Click here for details of The Dock’s website and blog victories.

The pic shows Annette, our Diocesan Communications Officer, accepting our prize at General Synod.

The Dock Pop-Up Market is proving to be a bit of a hit – we’ve had great stalls recently like Steph’s charm-ing jewellery (left) and on Saturday you’ve got another chance to bag a bargain at Anabel’s craft stall (right).

Loads more great stalls coming up over the next few weeks – like knits (created by Sip/Sit/Knit, our very own Friday-morning knitting group) and home-made Belgian waffles!

If you’ve got something worth selling, make sure you grab an application form in The Dock – it might be the start of something great!  (As long as your product is better than the “multifunctional” grey box on wheels in The Apprentice last week.)

My two worlds collided this week when St Clements – the friendly Belfast parish who keep me out of mischief when I’m not at The Dock – called in for a visit and a tour of the TQ:

And it was great to see some familiar faces from Holywood (where I worked before my life changed forever when The Dock began in late 2009).  If, like St Clem or the Holywood gang, you’d like to book a group in for a cuppa in the cafe, a tour of the area and an update on the story of the Dock, just get in touch!

Speaking of Holywood, Andy (who was one of the brilliant youth leaders in the church when I was there) got married a few weeks ago; as well as being very honoured to perform the ceremony, I also had a blast at the reception – which happened to be in a wee gaff just up the road called Titanic Belfast.  What a spectacular place for a wedding reception!  (And has anybody ever been to a function upstairs without coming home with at least one Grand Staircase photo?)

One of the great joys of Dock life – introducing people to each other – making connections across our ever-expanding community.  Just one of the hundreds of chance encounters that happen every day: the new Nomadic visitor crew (nearly there now… nearly there now…) meeting the Titanic Foundation team in The Dock:

And a gorgeous moment from today: a group using the Prayer garden for a little gathering with visitors from Portugal.  Songs and prayers in both Portuguese and English echoing across the cafe as we were closing up for the day:

And finally, a few more snapshots of Dock life.  A hen party (a sensible, non-scary one) in The Dock… deckchairs on a sunny day… chess tournaments stretching out all afternoon… Segway tours whirring past…

This is the life, eh!

Of all the things I’m most proud of in this life, possibly the highlight is the tagline I came up with for the Titanic Quarterly – the magazine that The Dock publishes for residents of the ARC apartments. Ready for it?….

‘For everyone enjoying ARC life’

I know, I know – amazing.  (And now you’ve got that Blur song in your head for the rest of the day).

For anyone looking at ARC life from a distance, I thought you’d still like to see the issues of Titanic Quarterly we’ve already produced over this past year – so they are now available as PDFs under the ‘Media’ tab of the website, or you can click to have a look at them below.

Enjoy!