A Year at Landguard Point: Stories, Successes, and Standout Experiences.
Get to the Point with a look back at the people, projects, and moments that shaped our year
Elian Shipp: Landguard Fort:
Landguard Fort 2025 Season Round-Up
What a year it has been at Landguard Fort! From reopening in February Half Term all the way through the bright days of Easter, the height of summer, and the crisp October Half Term, 2025 has been packed with activity, energy, and plenty of memorable moments. And the year isn’t over yet—we still have Christmas events and spine-tingling ghost tours to look forward to!
Celebrating Our Volunteers
If there’s one thing we can’t emphasize enough, it’s how essential our volunteers are. Truly, Landguard Fort could not operate without the dedication, passion, and hard work of our volunteer team. They help make every visit special, support ongoing improvements, and keep the site welcoming for everyone who steps through our gates. We’re endlessly grateful for everything they do.
New Exhibitions Bringing History to Life
This year, we were thrilled to unveil several new exhibitions that continue telling the evolving story of the fort.
One standout favourite has been the Gainsborough Exhibition, which reveals a completely new and fascinating angle on the artist’s connection to Landguard. It has quickly become a highlight for many of our visitors.
Our new dressing-up room has also been a joy to witness in action. Seeing both children and adults don uniforms, pose with wooden rifles, and snap photos has brought a whole new level of fun and immersion to the site. Improving our displays and experiences is always a priority, so watching guests enjoy these additions—and hearing their wonderful feedback—has been incredibly rewarding.
A Year Filled with Community Events
Landguard Fort felt wonderfully alive this year as we hosted a variety of community-focused events. We welcomed:
- Felixstowe Schools’ Summer Concert
- Level Two’s Arts Award Performance
- Felixstowe Lifeboat’s Sea Shanty Night
There’s nothing quite like seeing the fort bustling with people enjoying music, performances, and shared moments. We’re proud that the fort serves as a space for community groups and local organisations, and the warm feedback from attendees reminds us how important these connections are.
Success with Joint Tickets
We also trialled annual joint tickets with Felixstowe Museum—and the results surpassed all expectations! Far more annual passes were sold compared to previous non-annual ticket types, and we were delighted to see many visitors return again and again.
This partnership not only supports the museum (which has had a brilliant year for visitor numbers) but also strengthens the entire Landguard Peninsula experience. With the fort, the museum, Landguard Nature Reserve, and the View Point, the area truly makes for a perfect day out.
Looking Ahead to 2026
Exciting things are already in motion for next year. The biggest project on the horizon is a major transformation of our timeline history room, created in collaboration with a professional interpretation company. This revamp aims to deepen the storytelling experience for visitors and bring the fort’s past to life like never before.
We’re also planning additional interpretation throughout various rooms, continuing our commitment to improve the visitor experience in meaningful ways. And of course, we’ll be hosting more events and working closely with local groups—something we look forward to every season.
Our partnership with Felixstowe Museum will continue to grow, too, ensuring visitors have even more to explore and enjoy across the peninsula.
Join Our Volunteer Family
As we look forward to the next season, we want to offer one more heartfelt thank-you to our incredible volunteers. Their energy, enthusiasm, and dedication keep the fort thriving.
We’re always eager to welcome new volunteers into the team. If you’d like to be part of Landguard Fort’s future—helping us shape another brilliant season—we’d love to hear from you!
Tom Parker: Felixstowe Museum.
Felixstowe Museum: 2025 End-of-Season Round-Up
And just like that, another season at Felixstowe Museum has come to a close. After such a lively and event-filled summer, it’s no surprise the months flew by in a flash. Despite some challenging national trends across the heritage sector, we’re thrilled to share that the Museum welcomed more visitors in 2025 than in 2024, continuing the positive growth we saw from 2023.
From brand-new exhibitions to bustling events and fresh additions to our café, this year has been one of energy, creativity, and wonderful community engagement.
A Big Year for Exhibitions
One major highlight of 2025 was the launch of our new flagship exhibition Beside the Seaside, unveiled in April. Featuring loans from accredited museums and popular seaside attractions, it quickly became a favourite among visitors of all ages.
But that wasn’t all! The museum revealed three other temporary displays at the same time, bringing even more variety to the season. Among them was Self/Contained, an eye-catching exhibition created by Clare Sams, Suffolk Libraries’ first-ever Environmentalist in Residence. Using recycled fast fashion, Clare explored the urgent issues of sustainability and waste in the clothing industry.
The exhibition was accompanied by hands-on workshops—both at the Museum and around Felixstowe—where participants learned sustainable crafts and skills. These sessions added an extra layer of creativity and engagement to an already powerful display.
Events That Brought New Visitors Through the Door
Our events program proved incredibly popular this year and played a huge role in introducing the Museum to people who had never visited before.
In August, we welcomed the Felixstowe and Offshore Radio Group, who joined us to celebrate all things Radio Caroline and pirate radio culture. Their display was a hit with radio enthusiasts and curious visitors alike.
One of the standout days of the entire season was Heritage Open Day on 20th September, when the Museum opened for free—and saw over 300 visitors stream through the doors in just one day! Many of these guests had never visited before, and thanks to our friendly volunteers, they left feeling welcomed, inspired, and more connected to the town’s history.
The Beehive Café Continues to Thrive
Our much-loved onsite café, The Beehive, has continued to grow its offerings—and its popularity. Serving a wider range of premium cakes and snacks, Suffolk-blend teas and coffees, and even the occasional homemade savoury treat for special events, the café has been a major contributor to this season’s success.
Regular customers have certainly noticed the upgrades, and we’re delighted to see so many people popping in again and again.
Season Tickets: A Big Hit in 2025
This year marked the first full season of our reusable Season Tickets, created in partnership with Landguard Fort. These tickets allow unlimited visits to both attractions for one price—and they’ve been selling incredibly well.
The strong uptake is a clear sign that people love being able to explore the wider Landguard Peninsula throughout the year, and we’re excited to build on this success as we refine the offer for 2026.
Looking Ahead to the Winter and Beyond
Although our main season has ended, the work certainly hasn’t! Over the winter months, our team will be focusing on:
- Collections care and conservation
- Updates to the Beside the Seaside exhibition
- Preparations for new displays launching in 2026 (we can’t reveal them just yet—but they’re exciting!)
And, of course, if you’re missing the Museum already, don’t worry—our monthly History Café events continue throughout winter. Keep an eye out for upcoming dates!
Landguard Nature Reserve
A Year of Growth, Engagement, and Conservation
2025 has been a year of considerable progress for Landguard Nature Reserve. From strengthening our volunteer network and expanding educational provision to enforcing essential protections and celebrating notable wildlife achievements, the reserve has continued to flourish as a centre of biodiversity, heritage, and community involvement
Wildlife Highlights
Marine Mammals
Seal activity remained a regular feature offshore throughout 2025, with at least three individuals requiring assistance onshore.
- One seal was taken into care due to an elevated temperature and lungworm.
- Another required intervention following suspected dog‑bite injuries.
- A third was found resting on the boardwalk with flipper wounds.
Although no longer a registered marine medic, the Ranger continues to attend incidents while on duty and provide support where needed. These cases highlight the ongoing pressures faced by coastal wildlife and the importance of rapid response and public awareness.
Invertebrates July delivered an exceptional diversity of insect life across the reserve, with a remarkable range of butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, beetles, and dragonflies recorded.
Flora
July also proved to be the most floristically abundant month of the year. The reserve displayed a succession of vibrant blooms, including:
Yellow Horned Poppy, Sea Pea, Bird’s‑foot Trefoil, Common Centaury, Viper’s Bugloss, Lady’s Bedstraw, Common Restharrow, English Stonecrop, White Stonecrop, Biting Stonecrop, St John’s Wort, Dittander, Sea Spurge and Sea Campion.
Thanks to mild autumn conditions, several species continued flowering well into November, extending the season’s colour and ecological value.
Historic Butterfly Record
In August, Landguard played host to a landmark moment in British wildlife history: the first‑ever UK recording of a female Southern Small White Butterfly (Pieris mannii). The sighting, made by William Brame of the Landguard Bird Observatory, marks a significant milestone as this species continues its rapid north‑westerly expansion across Europe.
Previously confined to southern and southeastern Europe, the Southern Small White has been advancing at a rate of over 100 km per year, with recent records in France and the Netherlands. Its arrival in Britain is both scientifically significant and indicative of broader environmental change.
Cottonweed Reintroduction
In November, after an absence of 136 years, Cottonweed (Otanthus maritimus) returned to Landguard. Last recorded on the Suffolk coast in 1889 by William Hind, this critically endangered coastal plant has been reintroduced through the Species Recovery Programme led by Alex Prendergast (Natural England) and The Rare British Plants Nursery.
Landguard was selected due to its historical association with the species and its suitability for long‑term recovery. Approximately two hundred plants and seed will be introduced, with monitoring planned over the next decade.
Cottonweed’s silvery, velvety foliage and button‑like flower heads are perfectly adapted to dry, saline environments. It’s return represents a hopeful and significant step in restoring rare coastal flora, supported by Natural England specialists, the Landguard Ranger and dedicated volunteers.
Other News
In April, new reserve maps, designed by Landguard’s Marketing Coordinator, were installed at key visitor points to improve orientation and enhance the visitor experience.
A striking new entrance sign was also installed at the main gates, featuring artwork by local metalwork artist Spadge Hopkins. The design showcases the Ringed Plover, Yellow Horned‑Poppy and European Rabbit, creating a bold and welcoming landmark for the site.
In May, funding from the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme, combined with match funding from the Landguard Trust and the Mayor’s Charity, enabled the purchase of essential habitat‑management equipment. This included a compact tractor, flail mower collector, sickle‑bar hedge cutter, tipping trailer, and battery‑powered tools. These investments will significantly enhance the reserve’s capacity to manage habitats efficiently and sustainably in the years ahead.
That’s all folks!
As we wrap up an unforgettable year across Landguard Point, one thing is clear: 2025 has been bursting with creativity, community, and the kind of shared moments that make this place truly special.
But the story doesn’t stop here. We’re already dreaming, planning, and plotting for an even bigger, bolder, more brilliant year ahead — and we’d love you to be part of it. Whether you’re a history buff, a nature lover, a curious explorer, or simply someone who enjoys a good day out, make sure Landguard is on your list for 2026. There’s so much more to discover, and we can’t wait to welcome you back through our doors, gates, and pathways.
And if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like behind the scenes — helping shape events, supporting visitors, or caring for our extraordinary heritage and wildlife — this is your moment. We’re always looking for enthusiastic volunteers to join the Landguard family. Your time, passion, and ideas can make a real difference.
Here’s to the memories we’ve made, the adventures still to come, and a new year filled with stories waiting to be told. See you at Landguard in 2026!
