It’s hard to comprehend how wooden boards going up at one of Aberdeen’s favourite derelict old places could bring hope to anyone’s heart.

But that’s exactly what it did for me.

Things had deteriorated so badly that fresh boards springing up over windows at what used to be the former Woolmanhill hospital were actually like a pleasant makeover compared to how it looked before.

The disused hospital had become a basket case after years of neglect since closing.

I’m not sure if pigeons are even bothered with it anymore.

Just rotting away at a busy prime junction near the Denburn dual-carriageway and behind another historical masterpiece, but which is very much alive and kicking – HM Theatre.

Very few people in Aberdeen have not driven past this site at some point.

It looks like a right old dump, but really Beauty and the Beast – waiting to be transformed into a handsome prince again.

Just for the record, this tired pile of bricks is a magnificent 18th-century Grecian-style neo-classical A-listed building; now locked in shackles, but desperate to escape.

Teetering over a classical black hole instead, in danger of disintegrating along with grand plans which now seem coated in thick dust.

The sight of new boarding nailed up recently was actually a sign of........

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