Fancy yourself as a bit of a rebel?
Come with us to explore the lives of the rebels and daredevils who took over Nothe Fort during the time it was derelict.
Amnesty is Nothe Fort’s good-humoured project to reveal the spirit of youth in older people and disclose the extraordinary ways in which their presence at the fort created new and compelling stories. Open to the public from 19 July – 30 November 2025.
Over the last two months, a group of men and women that used to break into Nothe Fort during the 1960s and 70s have dropped in to have their photographs taken and share their stories with us.
We’re sharing those stories through an exhibition of striking portraits and a film of the now, somewhat reflective rebels, recounting their adventures in the abandoned fort.
Have they mellowed over the years or are they as transgressive as they were 50 years ago? Come and find out!
Here are some excerpts from stories shared with the team at Nothe Fort:
‘I took our large yellow Labrador down to the fort and several of us lifted him up and posted him through a window. We scared one another in the mags with tales of the resident ghost. We got drunk on cheap booze and roamed all over the fort.’
‘My friends didn’t really like me going up there because they thought it was a bit dangerous, but I was quite happy with it. I’ve always been a bit of a rebel so… That was my choice, going up the wall. It wasn’t bravado, it was choice: what I wanted to do.’
