Scarborough's Grand

I went over to visit my cousins of Scarborough last month. One had been seriously ill and has made a good recovery, but an actual visit is more cheering than a text message or a posted card. According to my custom, I booked a night’s accommodation in the town so as not to burden my relatives. I also have a fondness for famous, Victorian hotels, even those which have fallen on relatively hard times, such as Liverpool’s Adelphi. Its equivalent in Scarbrough is the Grand.

Once, this was the largest, purpose-built hotel in Europe and one of the largest in the world. Catering for well-heeled Victorians taking the sea air, it is constructed in the shape of a V in honour of the famous queen who her lent her name to the era. It was designed around the theme of 'time' with its 365 rooms, four towers for the seasons, 52 chimneys and 12 floors. Later restorations reduced some of these figures, so it is interesting to note that time’s passage also had a powerful effect on this famous, time-themed institution, ever since its construction in 1867.

My room was clean and comfortable. Unfortunately, it did not seem to have any electricity, but a helpful maintenance man soon put that right. Thereafter, I could boil the kettle and enjoy superb views of the North Sea, the town’s castle above and the harbour beneath. The hot bath was a treat which I would not have enjoyed had I travelled straight home. Apart from a long queue to check-in, it was a pleasant stay and I would certainly go back.

This grand old building teaches us a salutary lesson: heydays do not last, golden ages fade and nobility decays. Even the royal palaces of Buckingham and Westminster are in serious need of repair. Who expects their new car to improve its performance with time, like an aspirational athlete? And will that athlete not understand that when he approaches 30, his time at the top is seriously limited? His body, like mine, will only decay and degenerate. With each passing season, day, week and month, our outward forms break, break up, or break down.

Thankfully, a new, glorious resurrection body will be given to Christ’s redeemed people, who will live in it forever. Until then, the creation groans and we, increasingly, with it.

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, New King James Version