House of Refuge lantern tour

After dark the House of Refuge becomes the place it was built to be: a lit window on an empty coast. The lantern tour takes forty people through the house and the boathouse with the lights off and the lanterns on, while a guide in the keeper’s role tells the stories from the ledger, the wrecks on the rocks below, the night the U-boat was seen, and the long quiet years between. The surf does the sound effects.

Tours run on Friday evenings from January to March and sell out. Children from eight are welcome; the porch in the dark is the part they remember.

Good to know

• Forty places per tour; book early.
• Closed shoes; the paths and the boathouse floor are uneven.
• Bring a jacket; the porch faces the wind.
• The gift shop opens for the half hour after each tour.

A fictional event at a real public venue, written to show what the Keel theme can do.