Royal Albert Dock

One of my favourite places is Liverpool’s Royal Albert Dock. It symbolises the city's former greatness as a port as well as its more recent renaissance. Where once cotton and other goods were loaded onto ships and exported around the empire, it now houses designer shops and trendy bistros. It was the first warehousing in the world to be made of only brick, stone and steel, preventing combustion, which may offer as much comfort to today’s shopkeepers as yesteryear’s manufacturers and merchants.

Its name comes from Prince Albert who opened it back in 1846. In 1988, as part of its and the wider city’s redevelopment, it was re-opened by his 3x great-grandson, Prince Charles, our present King.

The Albert Dock is a picture of the Christian. Created by God, he was designed to be useful, prosperous and incombustible. Yet sin caused a fatal decline; he became wrecked and ruined. Yet the Son of God came and performed a work there, re-opening us to spiritual life and truth. It might have taken several years and we are not yet as glorious as once we were, but we are more royal than any re-invented dockland of Liverpool.