Another Dock-related great day out: there’s a brilliant exhibition in grounds of the City Hall at the moment, showcasing the photography of Robert Welch.

Robert Welch is one of the great unsung heroes of the Titanic story.  He was employed by Harland and Wolff to take a photographic record of every ship built in the Belfast docks – which he did with flair, style and a brilliant eye for a well-composed shot.  Most of his photographs – and the ships they captured – are now forgotten, but the photos he took of Titanic under construction, although of course he wouldn’t have known it at the time, have been reprinted, pored-over and used to illustrate countless Titanic stories.

If you’ve ever seen a black-and-white photo of Titanic in Belfast, the chances are that Robert Welch was the photographer (and you can quite often see the ‘RW’ stencilled in to the corner of the print).  His shots of men at work in the shadow of gigantic propellers, or hanging precariously off the spiderweb of scaffolding surrounding the ship, deserve to be up there with iconic photos like the lunchbreak on the gantry of the Empire State Building. They’re a tremendous record of an almost unrecognisable Belfast, swarming with industry and pumping out ships which were the envy of the world.  One of his most famous shots shows the Queens Road heaving with thousands of dock workers heading home after a hard day’s work with a shadowy half-built Titanic looming over the scene in the background; a ‘moving picture’ indeed.

Some of Robert Welch’s photos are now getting the attention they deserve, blown up onto huge open-air display boards around the grounds of the City Hall.  In the sunshine today, with people picnicking on the grass and admiring the exhibition, it all felt very continental and cosmopolitan.  The exhibition only lasts till the end of April so it’s well worth making the time for a visit!

It is great, great, great being involved in Dock-world at the minute.  Y’know how I posted a few months ago about how the wheels and cogs were starting to turn faster and faster (kinda like – cheesy link – the Titanic engines bursting into life)?  Well the momentum just keeps building – and it’s all good stuff.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be celebrating some major milestones in Dock-world.  We’re soon about to have the first-ever Board of Directors meeting, which will help establish The Dock as a company in its own right, and as a genuinely shared initiative across our church denominations.  We’re about to start a fundraising programme with the vision of having The Dock Boat in place in the Titanic Quarter as soon as possible.  And we’re about to commission a new member of The Dock chaplaincy team.

Things start getting busy this coming Sunday (10th April).

First up, Kev the Rev will be kick-starting the fundraising programme by running the TQ 10K run to raise funds for The Dock.  You can see him off at the starting line on the Queens Road at 1:30, greet him at the finish line at Arc Apartments mere minutes later (right Kev?) or sponsor him using the form which you can download by clicking the picture to your left.

Then, at 3:33pm (before you ask, we just chose the time because it’s easy to remember – everyone thinks there must be some special significance to the number!) we’ll be Dock Walking as always – fresh air, exercise, friendship, prayer, worship, discussion and of course a complimentary coffee at the Premier Inn to finish with – what’s not to like?

Then in the evening, the Metropolitan Tabernacle are holding an event in the Odyssey Arena called ‘Hope – Now and Forever’.  Gospel choirs, drama, music, a message from Pastor McConnell and free transport from all areas of the city – it’s going to be a huge event and The Dock will be there!  Slightly different from my usual Sunday evening, but in the spirit of the Shared Medley, I’m really looking forward to something a bit different and the chance to join in worship with thousands of others in the Titanic Quarter!

The event starts at 6:45, admission is free and if you’d like to find out more click here.

Sounds like a great day…

Friday 1st April was a big day in the TQ…

If you watched the Day in the Life of 2011 video, you’ll remember that big plans were afoot to celebrate the centenary of the opening of the Thompson Dock (the huge dry dock beside the old Pump House, and famous for being the last place the Titanic stood on dry ground) by lowering people into the dock for the first time in many years.

Alas the forces of nature were arrayed against this plan… Over the last few weeks the gate at the top of the dock (which usually does a pretty good job of holding back the ocean) has sprung a leak – leaving the dock in imminent danger of being underwater – making it a possibly slightly dangerous place to spend April Fools Day!  As a consequence sadly the planned centenary events had to be called off – but, determined not to let the event pass unmarked, some hardy Dock members braved the gales to sing Happy Birthday, eat some celebratory Cream Eggs and Jelly Babies, and generally help the Thompson Dock to feel that someone was making a fuss…

On Saturday it was time to Meet some Neighbours as the second Saturday Brunch swung into action.  (Sorry the pics aren’t great – too busy chatting to faff around with the camera!)  Yet again I just had an utterly fantastic time as a mixture of familiar and new faces from the TQ community joined us for coffee and cookies.   We met some truly brilliant people – some even helped us with the set-up and clear-up of the deckchair cafe, others stayed and chatted when they had long ago gone numb with cold, others shared stories and jokes and insights which made me realise something profound and rather cool:  I really like the people moving into the TQ.  A marvellous bunch and a marvellous brunch.

We even got to introduce two next-door neighbours for the first time! – the 2 gents on the left live right beside each other but hadn’t yet had a chance to meet properly.

We warmed up in the Premier Inn over coffees during a fantastic book group – everyone loved our book of choice this month (Thomas Merton’s The Seven Storey Mountain) and it was great to share the different ways in which we’d been challenged, surprised and inspired by Merton’s life story.

To finish off the weekend in style – at today’s sun-drenched Dock Walk we had Protestants, Catholics, Americans, Germans, Czechs (as well as a few locals) – talk about living out the Shared Medley!

And to end on a sombre note… it’s been a weekend in which the need to build peace and live out a brighter future in Northern Ireland has been more urgent than ever.  The tragedy in Omagh, with its crushing echo of twenty or thirty years ago, was a sharp reminder of a past that we refuse to revisit.  It was good to see politicians, leaders and communities from across the spectrum react in equal horror – a clear message that we are in a new era and a new day.

Well here goes!  I’m really looking forward to a busy weekend of Dock-activity – lots going on at the TQ this weekend, and as always a warm welcome to anyone who wants to call in at any stage of this banquet of events:

First up, on Saturday it’s time to Meet The Neighbours again – first Saturday of every month, cookies, coffees, donuts, danishes, pastries, papers (the Saturday papers that is), lots of new faces, good craic and a warm welcome at the pop-up deckchair cafe at the base of the Arc apartments.  Drop in any time from 11 – 1, or call by around 12 for the latest TQ gossip…

(And while I mention Meet The Neighbours, we’ll be doing a leaflet drop to all the Arc apartments tomorrow morning – if anyone wants to help spread the word, and get fit in the process (It’s really good exercise – it’s basically real-life step aerobics!), we’ll be meeting at the Kit model at the base of the apartments at 9:30am.)

Then on Saturday afternoon at 2pm we’ll be repairing to the luxurious surroundings of the Premier Inn (I know that sounds as if I’m being sarcastic, but honestly! It’s quite luxurious!) for Dock Book Group, this month looking at Thomas Merton’s autobiographical The Seven Storey Mountain, his own account of his journey from a life of wealth to a life of true richness in the unexpected surroundings of a Trappist monastery.

(So I do realise the irony – we’ll be talking about someone who has spurned earthly luxury while sitting on our comfy sofas and drinking cappuccinos – but a bit of dramatic irony never hurt anyone!)  Everyone welcome at 2pm for chat, coffee, and that time-honoured book-group thing where you hope nobody finds out that you skim-read the last quarter of the book…

And then of course on Sunday at 3:33 it’s the Dock Walk – now steadily building in numbers as the Spring approaches, and always – always – full of a fascinating mix of people, denominations, backgrounds, perspectives and insights.  I can’t think of a better way to spend Sunday afternoons…

So see you soon!

The next few months are bunged with stuff happening in the Titanic Quarter – we’re already starting to count off 100-year anniversaries (opening of the Thompson Dock on 1st April, launching of Titanic as an empty shell on 31st May…) Keep an eye on this blog and I’ll try to keep you up to date with all that’s happening – if I can keep track of it myself!

The first event kick-starting this bumper crop of Titanicy things to do is the TQ 10K run on 10th April – a good chance to limber up if you’re thinking of tackling the whole marathon in May.  And running in the Dock colours (metaphorically speaking) is Kev the Rev, the Rector of Movilla parish in Newtownards, who has very kindly offered to run to raise money for The Dock.

So if you’d like to sponsor Kev, just download or print the form below and get fundraising!  And if you’d like to don your running shoes, the starting pistol is at 1:30pm on Sunday 10th April at the Queens Road (details here).