A wee pic of a wee member of the TQ community – the tiny chap in the middle of the photo is Cian, and I’d love to find out if he is the first baby to be born to someone living in the Titanic Quarter? – if he is, it’s quite an epic honour!

Having been born here, Cian and his mum and dad are heading off home to the States tomorrow, with loads of best wishes from all of us in The Dock.  It seems to be the way of things in the TQ that people living here don’t often stay for long – work commitments, filming schedules and international business often carry them off to other climes – but hopefully they’ll carry treasured memories of being part of this amazing place for the rest of their lives.  Cian, hope we see you back here some day!

Well it’s been another obscenely exciting week in Dock  World – and the great thing is, the best is yet to come!  I know I keep being all secretive and mysterious at the minute, but all will be revealed soon…

Meanwhile (hmm, what a great word) here are a few images of things Dock-related  to feast your eyes upon.  First up, a few pics of some of the exciting development work going on at the minute, as more and more of the visionary TQ masterplan becomes reality.  On the left is the rapidly-emerging ‘Concourse 2’, the latest addition to the Science Park; in the middle is part of the new gate being fitted to allow access to the breathtaking Thompson Dock (see the New Year video for the full story); on the right you can see how fast the new building at the Paint Hall Movie Studios is progressing:

And now some Dock life in action: a few pics from another gorgeous Dock Walk on a brisk, sunset-flecked winter’s day last Sunday.  We walked, talked, laughed, met some brill new people, and as always (and I really do mean that – every week I learn something new) had a great chat about the Bible readings from Wordlive.  (And a little reminder: check out the Wordlive website/podcasts and get engaged – I honestly can’t recommend it highly enough…)

And a few Dock-world faces: I had another great filming session with Patricia (the Dock Doc) and the team during the week; I went to a ‘Community Resilience Forum’ for everyone working in the harbour area with Tegan (you’ll be hearing more from her…) and I got to spend a great morning with some of the other ‘Titanic Ambassadors’, being trained to spread the Word of Titanic!

It was a big day for Titanic Walking Tours as well, as your tour of TQ guided by Colin and his team of Titanoraks can now take place on foot (tours are about to start to ramp up to every day again – keep checking the website for details) or on board this utterly fab bus – the Titanic Explorer (also due to start operating in early Feb).  Doesn’t it really feel as if Belfast is becoming truly ready for the Titanic centenary – what a brilliant range of options lie ahead of all the lucky tourists and visitors in the months that lie ahead…

And speaking of which, I’ll leave you with another new video from the tourist board, which in a slightly cheesy but really uplifting way makes you realise just how incredibly much we have to offer to visitors from all over the world… It’s our year, people!

I heard recently that there are currently 104 events in the diary to mark the Titanic centenary over the next few months – concerts, drama, music, light-shows, walks, services…

My diary is starting to pile up with them so fast that I’m already in danger of being double- or triple-boked on some days in April.  And it’s all good stuff – it’s hard to choose!  So I thought that one of the useful functions of The Dock website over the coming months would be to round up all the events and attractions that are imminent and include them in the ‘Calendar’ tab (Events/Calendar) on the main page.  I’ll also try to mention the main events on this blog, so you Dockers can all start filling your diaries too…

So, to get the ball rolling, here’s your first date to mark off: Sunday 1st April is the date of the Yardmen cycle and walk.  The idea is that we all dressed up in scoops and dunchers (that’s the old docker’s cap, in case you were wondering) and re-trace (on foot or on two wheels) the route taken every morning by the 15,000 men who worked in the shipyards in 1912, starting in various points throughout Belfast and converging on the Drawing Office in the heart of the TQ.

Here’s the important bit of info: you have to register now to be part of the walk – places are limited to 1000.  Registering just takes a few moments at the website (link here) and your £5 ticket includes your very own duncher, refreshments, and a donation to Bowel Cancer research – not bad!

And here’s the really exciting bit of info:  The Dock is joining forces with Westbourne Presbyterian, the ‘shipyard church’ on the Newtownards Road, for a joint service at 11am on 1st April.  After the service we’ll be able to enjoy a drop of coffee and then just stroll across the road to begin the walk – it leaves from Pitt Park, just over the road, at 12:45.

Then as we all arrive at the Titanic Quarter, the plan is to recreate the fabulous old photographs which show the men in their scoops and dunchers making their way down the Queens Road with the Titanic towering in the background.  A day out, a chance to live the Shared Medley, a walk, and a bit of living history – what’s not to love?  Register NOW!

I am, honest – here’s a picture of me with a collar and everything!  (gosh, haven’t seen that in a while…)

Good news for Dock-world today: I’ve been appointed as the part-time minister of St Clement’s church in Templemore Avenue, just a stone’s throw away from the Titanic Quarter (you can even see the cranes from the door of the church!)  The appointment was announced in St Clements on Sunday (reports of people weeping and running for the exits are greatly exaggerated) and will come into effect in May.

Why is this good news for Dock-world, I hear you cry?  Am I deserting the Titanic Quarter?  Not a bit of it… part of my role from the very beginning of The Dock has been to find a viable long-term part-time post which would be a solid foundation and support for the more experimental, ‘out-there’ work in the TQ.  If you’ve been around The Dock for a while you’ll remember that for the first year of its existence I did something similar, filling in as temporary minister in Carrowdore and Millisle parish during their vacancy; last year, my tour-guiding with Titanic Walking Tours was a different (and fabulously stretching and challenging) way to make ends meet while The Dock project made its way forward.

The great news about St Clements is that it has come along at exactly the right time: The Dock is entering a whole new era.  Over the next few weeks I’m hoping to be able to break news which has been long-in-the-making, has involved loads of behind-the-scenes work by many fantastic people, and which will take the whole project to another level.  Once that all happens, there’s no turning back: The Dock Is Out There.  It’s no longer a guy wandering the TQ asking people if they’ll share a coffee and a brainstorm for the future of church in the TQ.  We’ll be living out the dreams and visions that emerged during those coffee-fuelled (and, we pray, Spirit-inspired!) early days.

My work with St Clements will be a great, reliable foundation-stone under it all.  And it’ll be great fun too – I’ve visited the place a few times as guest preacher, and they’re lovely! – and being right there in East Belfast there are all sorts of shipyard connections, families with tales to tell.  I can’t wait to bring all the St Clementians (hmm, might have to think of a new name) to see all that’s happening in the TQ – and to find new ways for the TQ gang to make the return trip as well.

Exciting times!

Sick of the sight of me yet?  I’m not invading your TVs today but your newspapers – the Dock Chaplains feature in (at the last count) the Belfast Telegraph, the Irish News and the Daily Mirror:

(Very Important Note: the “drink drive shame’ headline is nothing whatsoever to do with our condition on the bikes…)

The Dock Chaplains haven’t suddenly started a new fitness regime: we were on two wheels to help Christian Aid launch their Titanic Cycle Challenge – a ride from the Titanic Quarter to Cobh in May this year.  (Neatly connecting up the last place the Titanic stood on dry ground, and the last place she called in to port).  If you’re interested in taking part in the challenge check out the Christian Aid website for all the details

Because yes, shame-faced to admit, Karen and I got to muck around on bikes for the press launch but aren’t actually cycling the route – though we will be making a good breakfast for the cyclists as they set off…!