Dock Cafe is beautiful.  Somehow, that big concrete warehouse we moved into 8 months ago has become a home from home, a safe space, a place of welcome and friendship and laughter and life.  I’m storing up some tales to tell you soon of some of the conversations and good news stories to have happened in that wonderful room – but for now (it’s a Sunday night and I’m bushed) let me just say it again: Dock Cafe is beautiful.

Of course part of the fun of the place is that it can always be a little bit more beautiful – and that’s where the Hive Mind comes in.  They’re a bunch of arty, creative, boundlessly imaginative people who meet from time to time to brainstorm ideas for the physical space of the cafe – and then when they’ve finished brainstorming (and imbibed enough caffeine), they pick up a drill, a paintbrush or a piece of chalk and get to work!

Things like constantly adding colour to anything that looks a bit too grey…

Or adding extra signage to point people in the right direction…

Or making the whole place brighter (the ‘Waste Titanic’ now glows from within!)…

Or helping customers understand how the whole ‘Honesty Box’ thing works…

Interested in joining them for their occasional sessions of ‘playing house’ in the biggest, best blank space in Belfast?  Just get in touch!

To cap off a thoroughly superlative day in Dock Cafe today, I was invited by one of our regular customers to check out the view from his balcony right at the top of the Arc Apartments… looking good TQ!

Hiya! It’s been a few days – it’s not that I’m ignoring you, but I was away at a retreat in exotic Ballybofey…

Every 2 years Bishop Miller (who you might remember from such TV shows as Mission Titanic) takes all of us minster-types away for a few days to recharge, listen to some great teaching, eat some great food and enjoy some great company.  (I have a hard life).

It’s a great idea and heartily recommended – it’s easy to get caught up in the relentless momentum of everyday life, and occasional ‘sabbaths’ from the madness can be hugely healthy for body and soul.

But just so you know I didn’t forget you entirely, I did take a snap of a brand-new cafe concept we found in McIlhenny’s department store in Ballybofey (click the pic to see the full picture) – they’re obviously into their coffee-shop-fusion concepts in a big way Out West…  Would it catch on in Belfast?

Some more snaps from the exciting world of Dock…

First up, a fantastic concert at the Thompson Dock – a chance to visit Titanic’s Dock at dark of night, walking along that incredibly atmospheric concrete basin filled with shadows and to stand beside the looming keel blocks and riveted metal gate under a starlit sky – awesome.  Followed by eats and drinks and top-quality chilled tunes in the Pump House Cafe.  A great night!

A complete contrast to dark-of-night: a glorious sunrise over the TQ.  Walking to work one day from a different train station (I thought it would be quicker… I was utterly wrong) I turned a corner to meet this gorgeous vista of the Titanic Quarter seen from the far side of the lough.  Dock Cafe is in there somewhere, if you squint!

Time to introduce you to a few unsung heroes of Dock-World.  The group gathered here are the Community Rescue Service, who gather every Thursday night at Dock Cafe for training and planning – before doing a fantastic job looking out for the safety of those in the Lagan area late at night at weekends.  They are a great bunch and we’re delighted that the cafe is providing a useful base for them.

Another unsung hero is Joe – the Dock treasurer.  He drops in every week to make sure that we have enough money to pay the sandwich man, the milkman, the baker, the candlestick maker and all the people who make Dock Cafe tick.  He also sits and faithfully counts out every penny of the donations from the Honesty Box – or at least until we purchased “RoboJoe” – a money counting machine that does the work of countless minutes in just a few seconds!  We were worried that Joe 1 would be offended by the arrival of robotic Joe 2 – but as you can see, when we introduced them, he looked quite pleased…!

And a great way to end a great week on Friday night – Katie’s Fabulous Fundraiser in aid of TearFund.  Life in the Titanic Quarter just keeps getting better…

 

There’s a snazzy Panorama camera function on iPhones now – so your pictures of Dock-world will now occasionally come in extra-wide format…

Like these shots of a busy lunchtime in Dock Cafe:

…or Titanic Belfast at night, seen from the end of the slipways:

…or a glorious day in the TQ – old and new side-by-side:

Mmmm, stretchy.