Ever since the Dock’s big makeover a few months ago, customers in the cafe have had the chance to answer the question that’s been troubling philosophers since the dawn of time – What Is The Dock?

I posted the first blackboard-full of replies back in April – the board has been filled, partially wiped, re-filled and added-to loads of times since then.  So, what is The Dock?

This is a Godsend… Wonderful place, we love it… A place for me & my best friends to spend time… I love being here… I spend more time here than I do at college [respect the honesty!]… where you can chill, enjoy great coffee and while away the hours… a place to connect with friends… Dock is love… the craic is 90…

Or maybe it’s:

A place of peace and tranquility… a magic little piece of Belfast… human kindness… warmth on a rainy day… a fun place with nice views and good coffee… a warm, welcome place for rest… local church… take time out of revision and chill at The Dock… Serenity amongst chaos… amazing… one of a kind… not just a cafe… very cosy… BMC CU clubhouse…

All good answers! – and now it’s time to clean the board and start again.

What is The Dock? Over to you!

Another fab day of meeting all sorts of odds and sods at the Dock…

As always on a Friday morning, the knitting group started the day by nabbing the best sofas by the window and getting to work… but today they had an end in sight: tomorrow (Saturday 22nd) their handiwork is for sale in the Dock pop-up market.  Gifts great and small… pressies for teachers as term ends… make sure you call in and pick up some nifty knits!

A great group of pilgrims joined me for the Titanic Pilgrimage Walk, confounding my theory from last week… it isn’t just the rainy days that attract a big crowd!

And we had a musical visitor in the cafe today – it was great to finally meet Philip Stopford, who composed the beautiful Titanic Voyage which was performed at the Titanic centenary last year.

I was there at the performance in the video you can watch below, when the piece was sung by school choirs at the Grand Staircase in Titanic Belfast on the morning of 2nd April – exactly 100 years to the day since the ship left Belfast for the first and last time.

I remember the hairs standing up on the back of my neck during that performance on such a significant date… it was great to finally meet the man behind the music!

Great was the excitement in The Dock today when a delivery man arrived with a box.  A very important box.  Contained within was something that was going to change the lives of everyone in Dock Cafe…. forever…

Y’see, over this last weekend, Dock Cafe’s old dishwasher had started to show some signs of imminent demise.  Although born a humble domestic dishwasher, it had survived at breakneck pace for over a year, being emptied and filled all day, every day, processing a never-ending stream of mugs, plates and soup bowls.  Brave little soldier, we salute you.

But within the box a new dishwasher was gleaming… a dishwasher which would only take 1 minute per cycle rather than 25… a proper dishwasher for a proper cafe:

The joy was touching to behold… I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the Dock volunteers vying for dishwashing duties before!

(Postscript: the new dishwasher did blot its copybook slightly before the day was out by leaking all over the floor like an un-house-trained puppy, leading to a “Help! The lifeboat is sinking!”-style bailout operation.  But I’m sure we’ll soon be able to get it fixed!)

Sitting here in Dock Cafe, watching the rain streaming down the window panes… was it really only last weekend that we were scorching in blazing sunshine?

We certainly had a lovely sun-blasted Dock Walk:

And groups meeting in The Dock (like the Northumbria Community pictured here) were able to enjoy the light streaming in the windows:

The weather started to turn mid-week – but the massive cruise ships kept arriving in Belfast:

…amid news that there will be a high-falutin’ whizzo new docking berth in the Titanic Quarter – great news for the whole Quarter and especially all our friends at the Thompson Dock & Pump House:

On the gloomy days, The Dock was still bunged-full – one lunchtime I counted customers from the Nomadic crew, local law enforcement, students from BMC, the Titanic Belfast crew, local history buffs, residents from the ARC… what a mix and great meeting point!

The team kept working away at The Dock’s new extension through rain and shine…

And so to today – rain, rain, rain.  Locals and visitors alike squeeze into The Dock to avoid protests and puddles.  At 2:00 I dutifully splashed my way to Titanic Belfast for the Slipway Pilgrimage, wondering if anyone would show up – who would be crazy to tramp around Titanic’s birthplace for an hour in this?  The answer: one of my biggest groups yet! – huge thanks to our multinational, multicultural, but uniformly soaked-through group!

Whether for just a few or a multitude, I’m finding it a massive privilege to be leading these slipway pilgrimages every week  Every single group seems to be finding meaning, relevance, power and inspiration in Titanic’s tale – and I genuinely never tire of leading the walks and giving people some gentle prompts for reflection on what Titanic’s story means to them.  As always the tours are free of charge, open to all, accessible for all, and last less than an hour – why not call down on a Friday or Saturday afternoon soon!