Would you like to volunteer at one of Felixstowe's top visitor attractions - all you need is some spare time, lots of enthusiasm and be great with people. 

Landguard Fort needs more tour guides and stewards for the 2022 season. We'll teach you all you need to know about Landguard Fort and its history.

Landguard Fort is the site of the last opposed invasion of England in 1667 and the present buildings date from 1745 with significant additions and alterations carried out in 1875. The site incorporates outlying gun batteries added at the end of the 19th century and during World War 2 and contains the UK's only surviving defence headquarters dating from the cold war period of the 1950s.

General Manager Nicola Barker said “With over 400 years of military, social and geo-political history at Landguard Fort there is so much to discover, experience and enjoy. While some visitors like to explore the fort and its exhibits by themselves, we offer the option of a guided tour at a small additional cost for visitors who appreciate the additional information, insight and anecdotes our tour guides provide. Our team of tour guides really bring the fort to life for our visitors, and we're keen to expand the team to meet growing visitor demand during 2022 and beyond”.

New tour guides will join a really friendly team of about 50 volunteers who look after everything involved in running the fort including research, maintenance, health and safety, exhibit design and development, event management, stewarding, marketing, stocking and operating the gift shop, team room and ticket office. Volunteers give what time they can, from a few hours to a few days each week to suit themselves and are provided with full training and uniforms.

There is no typical day for a tour guide as a guide may host a group ranging from schoolchildren to World War 2 veterans and each tour guide will personalise their approach to suit their own style and their audience. Here are a few examples from our current tour guides:

Laurence Hendry says “I always start with a health and safety briefing and tell children that school is designed to keep them safe, but soldiers had to look after their own safety and would be punished if they were careless which means they could not work”.

Chris Smithers will always give a group of children a challenge at the start of a tour. He says “I always ask children to describe the difference between a fort and a castle. That gets them thinking!”.

Roger Brookes was hosting a party of veterans and says “the subject of D-Day came up so I asked if anyone had taken part. One man said 'Yes, I was with the navy'. I asked him what he saw. 'Nothing' he said, 'I was a stoker in the engine room'!”.

If being a tour guide interests you, please contact Nicola Barker, General Manager at general.manager@landguard.com to arrange an informal discussion.

Landguard Fort is open Thursday to Sunday during term-time and every day during school holidays from April to October.