After almost four years of being locked away from the public, two pieces of East Yorkshire’s military history will be re-opened.
Fort Paull Museum near Hull closed its doors in 2020 after two decades of housing the last remaining Blackburn Beverley aircraft.
After the land’s owner retired, hundreds of museum exhibits were auctioned off.
When its new owner, who bought it for £21,000, determined it wasn’t feasible financially to move it last year, it appeared destined for the scrap heap.
This aircraft has now been taken over by the Solway Aviation Museum, which maintains 23 heritage aircraft at Carlisle Airport. Volunteers are currently dismantling it and moving it slowly to the North West.
“It being scrapped – we don’t want that to happen with it being the last one,” said Dougie Kerr, managing director at Solway Aviation Museum.
“You don’t really get close to newer RAF aircraft but the ones that we keep in museums we like people to touch and get in them. It’s for future generations to see and engineering as well – to bring kids on.”
In the 1950s, it was the largest aircraft of the RAF, so the Blackburn Beverley is going to be restored. Until 1967, they were used by the air force.
To help cover transportation and restoration costs, an online fundraiser has raised more than £72,000 so far.
A reopening plan is being worked on for the site that used to be home to the Blackburn Beverley.
The history of Fort Paull can be traced back to Henry VIII. Buildings on the site were constructed in the 1860s and were used as munitions storage facilities during the Second World War before the Ministry of Defence sold them in the 1960s. A military museum opened here in the late 1990s, but it closed in 2020.
Nick Taylor, who has been managing the security of the site since October, has announced plans to reopen the land to the public.
Once it is cleared of brambles he hopes it can host car shows, dog walkers and other events by the summer.
Nick said: “The response has been absolutely unbelievable and it has really hammered home to us how much people want to see this site open again.
“It’s been here a very long time and we’re really hoping we can keep it going for generations to come.”
