The Dock is on the move!
Revd Chris Bennett writes…The Titanic Quarter is coming together in a big, big way. Last week I got the chance to have my first look inside the new Metropolitan College campus in the TQ. It’s fab! From the inner courtyard (complete with pond!) to the top class facilities (everything from massive catering kitchens to hairdressing salons to spray–tan booths), it’s going to have a huge impact on the TQ – and hopefully on the lives of the students who attend it. I’ve loved watching the progress of the building throughout my time in the TQ – and if you want your own sneak peek at what it looks like inside, you’ll find loads of pictures by following this link.
Well that’s impressive, enough, but just across the road from the Met, the new Titanic Belfast building didn’t even exist when I started back at the end of 2009. I’m sure you’ve seen it standing out on the Belfast skyline; up close it looks fantastic, those angled panels catching the sunlight, and inside…
Yep, I got another exclusive tour of a brand–new building within a few days of the last one! And this time I’d brought the video camera – so check it out
here
And if you haven’t already seen it, make sure you catch the fantastic ‘fly–through’ video to give you a taster of what’s in store when Titanic Belfast opens its doors next year; the
link is here
As always I hope you’ve had a chance to catch up with all the news on the blog over the last few weeks – including some tales and pics from the Titanic Walking Tours, and a link to a fantastic article which shows the colossal wind turbines currently being constructed under Samson and Goliath. (They’re the largest wind turbines in the world. Largest ships… largest turbines… I think we’re obsessed!)
So these exciting weeks have been a perfect way to draw a line under this little chapter of Dock life; Sus and I head off on holiday in Harvey the VW campervan tomorrow. As we sat down for a coffee in the Premier Inn after our tour of Titanic Belfast today, we were reflecting just how many doors have been opened to the Dock in this past year. The Met and Titanic Belfast are just the start. The Premier Inn has opened its doors and welcomed us week by week. The Walking Tours have led to all sorts of open doors – I have to admit I love having a pocketful of keys for the Drawing Offices, the slipways and the Pump House when I’m on tour duty. And TQ Ltd have been incredible, opening their doors so that we can run deckchair cafes and Meet The Neighbours.
Which leads to one more reason for my light heart as we leave on holiday. This time last year, everything in Dock–World ground to a halt for the couple of weeks that I was away. This year, you’ll hardly notice I’m gone! Meet The Neighbours events are still happening as usual (the next one’s on Saturday at 11am), the Dock Walks continue every Sunday at 3:33 in the Streat, emails to the Dock will get a response, there’ll be all sorts of news on the blog, even the Dock Management Team is meeting in my absence, confident that there’s plenty to be done! It’s a new world, and a good world. Profoundly, wonderfully, I am not All By Myself in this adventure any more. Doors are opening and friendships are sparking into life. God is working. The Dock is on the move!