One of the most iconic images after Cyclone Seroja tore through Western Australia's Midwest in 2021 was an aerial shot of what was left of Northampton's historic Railway Tavern, better known as "the bottom pub".
Most of its red roof was ripped off, causing significant internal damage to the watering hole and accommodation built in 1876.
More than two years on, work to restore and reopen the building is continuing, reaching a significant milestone this week with the completion of a new roof.
Ricky Sah bought the very damaged tavern from the former publican, his neighbour Ian Trevarton, who could not face the massive restoration project.
Fittingly, the idea all started over a beer.
"Now and then I would come in to have a couple of drinks after work … and one day he said, 'Oh I'm 80 years old I can't fix it, I don't have energy, would you like to do it yourself?'," Mr Sah said.
"I had my education of diploma in building and I'm an engineer by trade, I worked for 10 years with Western Power, so I had a qualification and thought, 'Okay, let's go, this is my first project'."
But the challenge has been tougher than expected.
"Oh my goodness this is more than a challenge, this is really, really hard work and it's been a tough journey," he said.
He said it took more than a year to obtain engineering plans and approvals to begin the work on the site.
It was then a "big headache" finding building materials and labour in an overheated market, exacerbated by the damage caused by Seroja.
"But we get through slowly, slowly and we've done all the tie downs, so now if anything happened the roof is not going anywhere," he said.
Mr Sah said it had been an anxious process, spent hoping rain would not slow down or dampen the work.
He said it would be a few more months before the first beers were poured — an event that was being eagerly awaited.
"All the farmer community, after a long day they come together to laugh, eat, drink and see out the day," he said.
"[It] is very iconic in the town and almost everyone in town is so excited for this."
None more so than manager Wren Fisher, who has worked at the pub for more than a decade.
"The old girl and me have got lots of history and I was absolutely devastated when I saw her after Seroja," she said.
"I'm seriously happy that she's in good hands now with Ricky and we can get back together again, so yeah, looking forward to that."
Building assistant Damir Resanovic arrived in Northampton for a one-week working holiday post cyclone and has not left, assisting Mr Sah with the rebuild.
"We teamed up together to bring this pub back to life, to its former glory," he said.
Mr Resanovic said all of the timber removed during the works would be salvaged.
"All the timber, all the rafters and stuff from jarrah … we're going to leave it inside the tavern and we're going to make the tables for the patrons of the place," he said.
He said every piece of timber had been saved and would be repurposed into furniture or garden works.
