More reasons to love Dock Cafe…

So this is farewell for a bit!  The Bennetts are hitting the road – France is beckoning and it’s been too long since I tried out my scraped-a-pass-at-GCSE French on the unsuspecting locals.  (Pouvez-vous telley-moi where ze campsite est, s’il vous plait?  etc.)

But what a difference a year makes.  Two years ago, when we left on holiday, the Dock just stopped.  Last summer we left behind a dedicated core group who kept walking and praying the Dock vision.  This summer we leave behind a fantastic, talented, utterly fabulous team, who will continue the great work of The Dock (and will probably get on far better without me cluttering up the place.)  Tegan and the volunteers – I can’t express how much it means to me that you’re doing such an amazing job in Dock Cafe.  It’s not just a place to grab a cuppa.  It has become something truly special – a safe, shared space in the Titanic Quarter, a place bursting at the seams with life and laughter.  Almost everyone who has visited has been affected by it (and the rest were just looking for the loos.)  (Which are coming soon!)

So as a leaving pressie, I’m going to tell you a few more reasons why I love Dock Cafe.  (You might remember that numbers 1-20 appeared a while ago…)  How many more reasons can there be, you may ask? – well, keep checking the blog over the coming days and see just how many ways there are, both big and small, to fall in love with this brilliant, unexpected, God-given blessing of a place.

And I’ll kick off now with No.21: the new Nomadic exhibition.  Yes, the Dock has now become the place to find out about the beautiful little tender ship that served Titanic at Cherbourg.  We’ve been Nomadic’s next-door-neighbour (and watched with delight as the restoration continued).  We’ve been on board to oil the teak (and if you want to join the next expedition, get in touch through the ‘Contact Us’ tab!).  And now we are the one-and-only venue for this brilliant exhibition of photos taken throughout the restoration of Nomadic by local photographer Stephen Potts.

Want to see the inner skeleton of the ship, the close-up view of 100-year-old rudders and propellers and rivets that were assembled in the shadow of Titanic?  Want to see how the restoration was achieved and what the ship looks like now?  Want to see the world’s biggest mussel conveyor belt?  (all makes sense in the exhibition!)  Well, you know where to call…

Have a great August!