After all our museum trips, talks and educational outings in the last few legs, we thought a day of general gallivanting and merriment was in order. And actually, the very fact that general gallivanting and merriment is an option around Titanic Quarter (TQ) has been one of our biggest surprises so far. I’m slightly ashamed to say that I had more or less written off this area before we started. I really didn’t know much about what was there. I’m not sure if my pre-conceived ideas led me to just ignore what TQ had to offer, or if it wasn’t well advertised in its early days, but my main assumption was that, aside from the Titanic museum itself and a couple of boats knocking about, the area was fairly barren.
I had heard that a lot of money had been put into regenerating the area, but I had no idea what it was spent on and why it was being spent on an area which only seemed to celebrate the doomed ship. I got that Titanic equals tourists, but given that the Troubles and associated murals are already one of the appeals for tourists, did we really want to promote our country as a destination for a sort of trauma tourism?
After the excitement of abandoned piers and glorious oil rigs, we were fairly sure that the stretch from the Titanic Dock and Pumphouse to the Odyssey would take us just a couple of weeks. But once again, almost as if in deliberate defiance, TQ threw so many fantastic activities and events our way that it was months before we could somewhat confidently say we were ready to move on to the Odyssey. I should add at this point that it’s well worth following TQ Events on Facebook or Twitter. Their advertising of events in the area is always up to date and second to none.
Rather conveniently, at the start of this stretch, we found Groupon offers for a couple of activities at USA NI Sports Park, between T13 and Cast and Crew and opposite the Drawing Offices. Our activities of choice were archery and crazy golf, but they also offer paintball, baseball batting cages and segway tours. The crazy golf wasn’t terribly crazy, but at £4 (normal price) for an adult for 12 holes, I probably shouldn’t complain, plus they let us go round twice. The archery was £15 (normal price) per adult for an hour. The time includes set up, brief instructions on how to hold a bow and shoot an arrow, and then a number of rounds where each person gets their own arrows and target. We enjoyed archery so much that we went back a second time. And this was quite something given the epic bruise that Clare sustained, seen in all its colourful glory in the photo above. Note to self, do not catch arm on string. Both times I found the instructors to be very friendly and knowledgeable. After we all had a few practice runs, they gave each of us some tips on how to improve our aim. We definitely weren’t the best of the bunch, but we think you’ll appreciate my arrow above which hit the target dead centre. This may be the best thing I ever do. We’ll definitely try to get back to archery again – a rather pleasant, calm and satisfying way to spend an afternoon.
After all our “sporting” endeavours we headed to the Dock Cafe and Market, just next to the ARC apartments, between the Nomadic and the Odyssey. The cafe is an honesty cafe, run by volunteers. It has an honesty box system, so you just donate what (if anything) you can afford. The cafe opened in 2012 and traces its origins back to Chris Bennett when he was appointed Chaplain of TQ. It was set up “to build Life in the Titanic Quarter” at a time when the area was still in the early development phase. Referring to the widespread division of communities and churches in Belfast, Chris, on the Dock website, elaborates that they “sought to provide something different – a shared gathering point – a boat on neutral waters, in which all our traditions could share the excitement of building community together”. The cafe is beautifully decorated with shipyard memorabilia and artwork and even has some tables from the Drawing Offices. In the corner of the cafe there is an area for reflection. They have a very good selection of tasty herbal teas which you can enjoy at one of the tables inside or outside with a view over the marina. I love the concept of the Dock cafe and it’s a great space for friends to catch up or groups to meet.
Just a few doors up, you’ll also find the Dock Market, which features craft, art and artisan food stalls every other Saturday. Definitely worth a nosey if you’re in the area. A favourite stall of ours was Jude’s Clay, run by two lovely ladies. They primarily sell very cute, intricately sculpted, little clay pop culture figures, but had other gift ideas such as hand-decorated notebooks and candles. We were delighted to be the first people to buy some clay figures from them at the market! We have since seen them at Showmasters’ Film & Comic Con at the Odyssey, and they run regular clay modelling workshops. Well worth checking out if you’re on the lookout for a very unique personalised gift.
Another welcome addition to the area is The Belfast Baking Company, located in the same row of shops as the Dock. If there’s one thing we love, it’s sitting down with a beverage and a bun or a spot of breakfast, and the Baking Company has it all. Looking out over the marina, we reflected on Titanic Quarter over a peppermint tea and a flat white. Our cake of choice was delicious – the salted caramel swiss roll was rich, moist and surprisingly not sickeningly sweet. We were warmly greeted by a senior staff member who chatted to us about their future plans for the cafe. Our ears perked up at the mention of choux pastry; if ever we catch a glimpse of a religieuse in their window, we will immediately be re-locating to the ARC apartments. As we chatted it was clear that the cafe takes real pride in creating quality produce, and they are always looking to improve their recipes and expand their menu. It is also a cafe that takes a standard concept and adds its own spin. Their tables are not just covered in photos of local landmarks, but they include a QR code which gives you directions to them; they don’t just make a nice cake to showcase their baking, but they create a 7 foot long Titanic cake to mark the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic (hands down the best cake I’ve ever had – photos above); there isn’t just a window looking into their baking kitchen, but they actually make a feature of it and host living baking sessions with local celebs (Clare was particularly devastated to miss Mary Peters). I’m pretty excited to see what other events they have in store and have already been back for breakfast and lunch (both very tasty). We’re glad we have another excuse to keep coming back to TQ even though we will shortly be moving on up the coast.
We ended the day by taking a dander around the marina area and having a closer look at the 13.5 metre-tall Airfix sculpture of the Titanic’s component parts. We once heard that this art piece had come under some criticism on account of its unfinished paintwork, but I think it’s perfect for the area. TQ itself isn’t finished. It is undergoing constant development, and every new business and event, cruise ship and activity adds a little more colour to the area.
So as our Titanic Quarter leg officially comes to an end (some many months after we started!) we have checked in to the Premier Inn to spend a bit of time wandering about the area and reflecting on our journey. I started out already a bit weary of hearing about the Titanic. Granted, this was somewhat exacerbated by the folly surrounding the centenary of the ship’s sinking in 2012, which saw the emergence of Titanic teabags and the highly-publicised, slightly reality show-esque interview process (read auditions) for the new Titanic museum. However, as we learnt about careers in the shipyard, felt the enormity of the Titanic when we descended into the dry dock, and stood at the feet of the famous yellow cranes that feature so heavily in murals and memorabilia all around the city (see photos above), we have finally understood that TQ is not at all about creating a morbidly tacky tourist trap. Titanic Quarter is the story of Belfast’s incredibly rich and innovative shipbuilding history, told with reverent pride by an increasingly confident city.
I was struck a number of times by the sense of community in the area. It seems as though every business is working together with the shared vision of placing Queen’s Island once again into the daily life of Belfast. One example of this was when we contacted T13 to see if their cafe was still running. They told us that it had unfortunately closed, but they made sure to point us in the direction of other cafes in the area. We have felt incredibly at home in TQ and it’s fantastic to see that Chris Bennett’s dream of a close-knit TQ community has been realised, not just in the Dock Cafe, but in the whole area in just a few short years. The area is being constantly developed, and given that we live and work nearby, we know that we will continue to visit here even after we have moved on up the coast. Keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming blog post on our recommendations for a weekend in TQ, and our Twitter page for updates on future events and festivals in the area!
-Rachel
Nooks and Crannies of the Irish Coast 