Ballater railway station

Ballater
Ballater railway station in 1961
General information
Location	Aberdeenshire Scotland
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Great North of Scotland Railway
Pre-grouping	Great North of Scotland Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
17 October 1866	Station opened
28 February 1966	Station closed to passengers
18 July 1966	station closed to goods
12 May 2015	Fire seriously damages former station

Ballater railway station is a former station in the village of Ballater in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The station was formerly the terminus of a branch line from Aberdeen. ^[1]

It was the nearest station to Balmoral Castle, a personal residence of the British monarch.

History

Opened on 17 October 1866 by the Aboyne and Braemar Railway this was the third of a series of openings (Aboyne to Ballater), by three different companies to connect Ballater with Aberdeen, the others were Aboyne to Banchory by the Deeside Extension Railway and Banchory to Aberdeen by the Deeside Railway. ^[2]

All three sections of the branch were operated by the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) and in 1876 they were all acquired by it. ^[2]

The GNSR became part of the London and North Eastern Railway during the Grouping of 1923, passing on to the Scottish Region of British Railways during the nationalisation of 1948.

The station was host to a LNER camping coach from 1937 to 1939. ^[3]

The station closed for passengers on 28 February 1966 and for goods on 18 July 1966. ^{[4] [5]}

Royal events

In August 1912, Ballater railway station played an important role when the body of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, the son-in-law of King Edward VII, was transferred to Mar Lodge, Braemar, from St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. On 9 August 1912 the Glasgow Herald reported on the funeral: ^[6]

The casket arrived at Aberdeen from Euston at 7.15 yesterday morning, being conveyed in a special saloon which at Aberdeen was attached to the 8.5 a.m. train for Ballater. Heavy rain showers had fallen on Deeside in the early morning, and when the train reached Ballater shortly after ten o'clock the atmosphere was depressingly gloomy, while the distant hills to the West were thickly enveloped in mist, adding a further melancholy note to the circumstances attending the sad home-bringing of the departed Chief of the Duffs. Travelling in the special saloon from London to Ballater were Sir Maurice Abbot Anderson and Lady Anderson and Dr Essery, while awaiting the arrival of the train at Ballater were Mr W[illia]m Mackintosh, factor and commissioner on the Mar estates; Mr C. H. Taylor, private secretary to the late Duke; and eight members of the Duff Highlanders, specially selected to transfer the casket from the train to a motor hearse which was in waiting to convey the remains over the 18 odd miles to New Mar Lodge. Many hundreds of residents and visitors to the district had assembled in the Station Square and reverently observed the Highlanders transfer the massive polished oak coffin from the saloon to the hearse. Over the casket was laid a Union Jack, which was the only touch of colour associated with the sombre vehicle.

Ballater Station was the location of an infamous event on 23 September 1936. On this day, King Edward VIII was due to open a new hospital in Aberdeen; however, he sent the then Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) in his place, citing that he was unable to attend as the Court was still in mourning. This was a foil. Edward VIII was seen at precisely the same time as the Yorks' opened the hospital, meeting Mrs Wallis Simpson off a train at Ballater Station. Mrs Simpson at the time was the mistress of Edward VIII though this fact was relatively unknown to the British public at this time owing to a 'silence' in the British press. Mrs Simpson was the King's special guest at Balmoral. ^[7]

Services

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Cambus O'May Line and station closed		Great North of Scotland Railway Deeside Railway		Terminus

Fire

The former station, in use as Ballater visitor centre in 2014, a year prior to the fire

In the early hours of 12 May 2015, fire crews were called out to a major blaze at the station. The fire was fought for around three hours but reports say the building was "around 90 per cent destroyed". ^[8] The fire is believed to have started in the Station Restaurant, one of several businesses at the station.

Current use

After the fire, the old station was rebuilt and adapted. ^[9] Containing Queen Victoria's waiting room, it is a once visitor centre, with a replica royal carriage. ^[10] The station houses the public library and a restaurant and cafe.

The former station site is the western trailhead of the Deeside Way, a long-distance footpath that follows the length of the former railway to Aberdeen. ^[11]

The station was awarded Project of the Year, and the Conservation award, in 2019 in the Aberdeen Society of Architects annual design awards. ^[12]

See also

• Royal Deeside Line

References

1. British Railways Atlas.1947. p.38
2. Grant, Donald J. (2017). Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain (1st ed.). Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire: Troubador Publishing Ltd. pp. 6 & 142. ISBN   978-1-78803-768-6.
3. McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. p. 11. ISBN   1-870119-48-7.
4. Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society. p. 64. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2022.
5. Hurst, Geoffrey (1992). Register of Closed Railways: 1948-1991. Worksop, Nottinghamshire: Milepost Publications. pp. 41 & 44 (refs 1921 & 2040). ISBN   0-9477-9618-5.
6. "The Duke of Fife". The Glasgow Herald. 9 August 1912. p. 8.
7. King Edward VIII, by Philip Ziegler, Kindle Edition, retrieved 2015.
8. "Royal station in Ballater destroyed by fire". BBC News. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
9. "Fire-damaged Ballater station set to reopen". BBC News. 19 August 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
10. "The old Royal Station at Ballater". Royal Deeside. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
11. "Aboyne to Ballater". www.deesideway.org. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
12. "ASA Design Awards 2019 – Winners & Commendations – ASA". aberdeenarchitects.org. Retrieved 18 March 2023.

Further reading

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN   978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC   60251199. OL   11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN   978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC   228266687.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN   978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC   22311137.

External links

• Film of the station and the Deeside line.

• Station on navigable O.S. map

57°03′03″N3°02′25″W / 57.05074°N 3.04024°W / 57.05074; -3.04024