After six months of closure due to floods, the Old Bridge Inn, Aviemore, will reopen. This Friday, the pub, as featured in BBC’s The Mountain, will again be serving drinkers and diners. The inn has long been popular with visitors who come to the Highlands area to enjoy a range of outdoors pursuits.
The Bridge Inn was destroyed when Storm Desmond caused the nearby River Spey to overflow and flood the local area on December 6, 2015.
Owner/manager Owen Caldwell was left shocked by the damage. He said: “I suppose it was almost inevitable at some point we would pay the price for our beautiful riverside setting. What we could never have imagined was the scale of the damage. The water got into – and destroyed – absolutely everything.”
But Owen reckons the new-look pub is better than ever – and he is looking forward to the opening night on Friday.
As well as a range of new beers and a new food menu, there will be music from The Langan Band and The Wook.
Tickets for Friday’s re-opening are on sale now at a price of £5, with door proceeds going to the Nepal Earthquake Relief.
Work to fix up the damaged bar.
Owen said: “We’ve had a tough six months so we wanted to raise some money for people a million times worse off than us.
“We also want to thank the phenomenal support from locals and our customers from far and wide. Special thanks also go to the staff we retained throughout, who have worked tirelessly to get us back open.
“It has been really moving to see how much people really care about the inn.”
The Bridge Inn has now been flood-proofed, with a flood wall and various drain mechanisms.
For tickets to this Friday’s Old Bridge Inn re-opening party call: 01479 811181.
