Station Hotel Aye current of July 2019. 

Very recently, on July 24, 2019, a story surfaced regarding the Station Hotel, Ayr which is the main infrastructure show cased on the card. The ScotRail company had been working from portable cabins since the hotel was deemed to be unsafe and a new station was said to be urgent by the national agency, Transport Scotland. The need for adequate station facilities was pressing as the station is one of the busiest of the ScotRail’s. At this time, the state of the hotel is uncertain based on the fact that a structural report on the building has not been completed (BBC News, 2019). 

As an aspiring historian, I think there is more to this card than the relationship it has to tourism. Due to the possibility of Station Hotel, Ayr being demolished, this postcard has the potential to serve as historical artifact that could be used to analyze what the hotel looked like during the early 20th century. Although, it would not be very ideal for reconstruction purposes, simply because it is a drawn image and not a photograph, it would still hold an important role in the evolution of the railway industry. I found it especially interesting how the Glasgow & Southern railway logo was included in the top right corner. I would be interested in understanding what relationship it had to each of the infrastructures on the postcard and why those were included instead of others.  

Aside from the research value, this postcard could also be very sentimental given the message on the back and front. The family of either the sender or the receiver may find value in what was written and the relationship between the two individuals.