Storytellers in demand at Spurn lighthouse

The 120-year-old Spurn lighthouse is currently being restored in a £300,000 project run by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. Picture: Howard Speight

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust hopes to attract story tellers to give up their time to man the 128ft Spurn lighthouse on its Spurn National Nature Reserve near Kilnsea for when it is used to host visitors, workshops and exhibitions.

The lighthouse was designed by Sir Thomas Matthews and built by Strattens of Edinburgh. It served as a strategic look out point when Spurn was owned by the Ministry of Defence during the First and Second World Wars. Cargo transported into and out of Hull was monitored and mariners used its lights to negotiate sandbanks before the lighthouse was retired in 1985.

Volunteers being recruited to bring the story of the lighthouse and the nature reserve to life will take up post once a £300,000 project to restore the structure is completed later this year.

Andrew Mason, Spurn heritage officer at the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said: “I want to ensure stories are brought to life, that the magnificent Spurn Lighthouse is an active building that brings people together and offers new opportunities, learning experiences and creative inspiration.”