I love those days when you’re just in the right place at the right time.

During the week I’d set a day aside to go on an expedition with Heather (fast becoming the Official Dock Photographer – http://www.iconicdesignphotography.com) and Colin (fast becoming the Official Dock Guide – http://www.titanicwalk.com) because I thought it would be great to get a complete photographic record of the TQ at this early stage in its development.  Yes, I know it’ll be fabulous when it’s all up and running in a few years’ time, but there’s also something beautiful about the rusty, faded glory of the place as it stands at the minute – it’s just so full of history and atmosphere.

And it just so happened that as we poked around the rusty, faded glory of SS Nomadic (the little ‘mini-Titanic’ sister ship that ferried passengers out from Cherbourg to Titanic), Colin realised that we might be the last members of the public to get on board for a while; it’s due to start restoration work next week, and so access will be closed for the next few months.

A momentous occasion eh?!  Almost worthy of another Dock Movie you might say…

…in high def:

Nomadic days… from The DOCK Church on Vimeo.

…or low quality/mobile:

And if you’re interested in finding out more about the Nomadic, there are some great articles on the Department of Social Development website describing the excitement of buying it back from the French:

…buying the Nomadic:  http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/urcdg-urban_regeneration/nomadic/dsdin_buying_the_nomadic.htm

…bidding at the auction in Paris:  http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/urcdg-urban_regeneration/nomadic/dsdin_bidding_for_the_nomadic.htm

…and bringing it home to Belfast:  http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/urcdg-urban_regeneration/nomadic/dsdin_nomadic_the_homecoming.htm

And you can find out more about the campaign to restore Nomadic at http://www.nomadicbelfast.com/ and http://www.nomadicpreservationsociety.co.uk/index.asp.

Phew what a lot of links!