Risen from the flames like a Phoenix.

On our way back from the Lonach Gathering we always stop off for breakfast in the lovely old town of Ballater. Sadly, this year the games are cancelled, another victim of the current plague. However, nothing daunted we find ourselves in Ballater on a wet. Day.
One of the highlights of the town is the Old Royal Station which was was the terminus of the line that ran inland from Aberdeen along the Dee valley. It was the nearest station to Balmoral Castle and consequently Queen Victoria and subsequent monarchs were regular visitors.  Sadly it was closed in 1966 by the dastardly Dr Beeching but continued to serve as a visitor centre, shops  and a tearoom. You can see the station as it was in 2014 in a previous blip.

Disaster struck in 2015 when the station was gutted by a major fire. But now it has risen from the ashes and re-opened as a library, visitors' information centre, tearoom and restaurant.