A long time ago (last weekend) in a galaxy far, far away (a few doors along from the cafe)…

It is a period of civil partying.
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Rebel Marketeers, striking from their hidden base in the ARC apartments, have won their second anniversary.  During the birthday, the Marketeers threw the ultimate shindig, the BIRTHDAY PARTY, with enough cake, celebrating, stormtroopers and sumptuous home-made treats to destroy an entire diet.

OK that’s probably enough trying to echo the Star Wars opening crawl… but it was amazing to see the Stormtroopers take over the TQ on Saturday as part of the fabulous birthday bash for our beloved Dock Market, which has now been showcasing fabulous home-made hand-crafted food, craft and art – as well as restoring peace and freedom to the galaxy (sorry) – for two glorious years.

One of their most brilliant, original and effective ideas was to make Dock Market dog-friendly (complete with its own ‘petiquette’) – so it was perfectly appropriate that the human-friendly birthday cake was accompanied by a dog-friendly version.  Cutting the doggie cake in the very appreciative company of two beautifully-behaved dogs was one of the highlights of my Dock life!

And of course – as always – the quality, imagination and craftsmanship of all the market stalls was a sight to behold:

It was great to meet a whole new bunch of people who made it for the first time in response to the Marketeers’ brilliant social media campaign – and to see lots of their “wow!” responses on the Dock Market Trip Advisor page.  Quotes to cherish: “full of charm”… “the cupcakes are amazing”… “full of colourful character and charm”… “unique and fun – hated saying goodbye!”

IMG_6676On the subject of Trip Advisor – I noticed today that a certain Honesty Box Cafe is at the top of the heap again on its own Dock Cafe Trip Advisor page – though since we’re not really a proper restaurant I expect that someone else will reclaim top spot soon!  But it is genuinely heartwarming to read that so many people found a warm welcome and a safe space in Dock Cafe and wrote a review to say Thanks.  More quotes to cherish:  “very intriguing”… “friendly and welcoming”… “a great atmosphere – so interesting and fun”… “fantastic concept”…

And I love this one – entitled “A loving ambience”, the review continues
If, as my wife and I were, you’re feeling foot-sore and weary after having walked rather too far, you need someone to gently ‘ take you by the hand ‘ advise you what food / drink is available, take your tray and bring you to a table. That’s what happened to us. Even before we’d entered, we sensed that this was a different kind of coffee shop…. And – as we were delighted to find – the volunteer staff are so welcoming. We left feeling that we’d been really cared for – and ready for still more walking / site-seeing.

Well done, that volunteer (it wasn’t me!!)

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So make sure you call in to see what they’re all raving about – put the upcoming Dock Markets in your diary (2nd & 4th Saturday of every month) and get yourself down to the Dock for a cuppa ASAP!