Two men who took on the task of breathing life back into a former Holderness visitor attraction have announced a major step in securing the future of the site.
Business partners Nick Taylor and Nick Moore – who go by The Two Nicks – launched a funding bid last year to save and regenerate Fort Paull. Doing a lot of the work themselves to clear the overgrown and rundown historic artillery battery at Paull, the pair were pleased to be able to run a couple of events at the site in 2024 to generate interest, and funds.
This year, with a number of events already planned, ranging from a Micro Maniacs car rally to a Christmas market, The Two Nicks are delighted with the way things are going. They have now posted about their commitment to what they started.
On the Fort Paull Battery Heritage Site’s Facebook page, they said: “We have some huge and exciting news in the Fort Paull house. When we first took the site on we entered into a short-term lease to make sure we hadn’t made a huge mistake (we still might have).
“But after the incredible response from you guys last year and the amazing turnout to our last year events, plus our packed 2025 season … today we have taken the decision to sign a long-term ten-year lease. With our amazing team behind us and the support from the general public we believe that we are the right group of people for the job, we hope that you agree.”
Nick Taylor, a former Royal Marine, first became temporary caretaker at the site in the autumn of 2023. He was granted permission by site owner Brian Rushworth to reopen the fort with Nick Moore, who was behind a campaign to keep Fort Paull open as a heritage site with a museum.
Nick Taylor said: “Our decision to commit to a ten-year lease gives us future security. It allows us to plan for the longer term.
“We have got around 11 events booked in this year which has surpassed what we hoped we might have by this time. We are getting re-enactments back in as well, which were missed in the local area.”
Looking ahead, Nick hoped for “more of the same” but with an even bigger variety of events coming to the site and the opportunity to bring back larger museum pieces. “Hopefully we can make things bigger and better to keep things going for the next ten years and beyond.
“At the minute, we know it’s a bit bare, but we don’t see that as a problem. It means we can start from scratch – it’s a blank canvas – and we would like to start bringing in the larger museum pieces especially for the kids to enjoy.
“If we can really get them into history, when me and Nick M are past it, hopefully there will be someone else to take it on and in the next 30 or 40 years’ time it will still be rockin’ and rollin’.”
Nick said in the immediate term, there were pressing needs to preserve the integrity of the site. “What we really need at the moment is someone to help us with the roofs.
“Whether that is someone who can come along and give us a quote and tell us what we need to do, and we can apply for a grant, or whether it is someone who will actually come and do the work for us and we pay for the materials, I don’t know. We need to shore up the structure of the building; that’s why we have been planning so many events to bring in funds and protect the building long-term.”
Fort Paull, on the banks of the Humber Estuary, was originally built in the 1500s and finally closed in January 2020. An application to East Riding Council by the owner to turn the site into a caravan park was turned down in March 2024.
When The Two Nicks announced their intentions to bring Fort Paull back to life, they said the public response had been “incredible”. They posted: “We soon realised how much this local historical asset has been missed from the local area.
“We really hope that with our endeavours we can save this historical site for generations to come.” You can find out more on the Fort Paull Facebook page.
