Open house

This morning, we went to the open day at St Andrew's Church, Ramshill Road, which was completed in 1865, a year before the house that now forms the block of flats, The Wick, in which we live.

St Andrew's is a huge building with a spire, and it gives the impression of being the local parish church.

However, it's a United Reformed church, with many features, such as stained glass, its dedication to a saint, and a side chapel, that are highly untypical of the non-conformist movement.

Our host, Tricia, told a fascinating story about its establishment and subsequent history.

One visiting church elder, she said, remarked: "I've been in smaller cathedrals."

It could originally hold 1,200, but with the creation of a glazed lobby and the construction of a central aisle, that has been reduced.

We learned later that 21st Century services there attract about 40 people, on whom now falls the burden of maintaining one of Scarborough's landmark buildings.

The front three rows of the gallery, we were told, had been declared out of bounds by the health and safety brigade, for fear that someone would fall, jump, or be pushed over the balcony.

On display was a photograph, taken in 1964-5, that I had not seen before.

It showed the area in which our flats would one day be built, and Tricia kindly agreed to arrange for her husband to make a copy of it for our collection.