Coalhouse Fort is celebrating with the launch of a new cafe and a one-off 'historic' sports day in August.

The new café, 'the Engine Rooms', toilets and information block, funded by Heritage Lottery Funding, has been built inside the space that originally powered the electricity for the searchlights.

Visitors to the cafe, which will be operated by Huttons, will be able to see the original engine bases inside as well as enjoy teas, coffees and hot and cold food. The cafe will be launched at the same time as a one-off 'historic' WWI sports day in August, inspired by a magazine printed and created at Coalhouse Fort during WWI.

The event has been inspired blast-from-the-past publication The Searchlight Magazine - which was created and printed at Coalhouse Fort during the war.

Sports played by soldiers during the war will be held at the special WWI sports day being planned for Coalhouse Fort in East Tilbury, from football and cricket to tug of war.

There will also be re-enactment drill sessions; a performance of The Known Soldier; singing from the Great War period by The Golden Voices, and a chance to take part in interactive tours around the Fort. Searchlight Magazine was written by Lieutenant Acland, No 2 Company of the London Electrical Engineers at Coalhouse Fort.

It was a chronicle of the Thames and Medway defences during the war and was distributed to colleagues fighting in Europe and to the London Electrical Engineers at other local forts such as New Tavern in Gravesend.

Councillor Jane Pothecary, Thurrock Council’s portfolio holder for communities, said: “Remembering the First World War and those who fought and died on the battlefields is something we should all do.

“But this event gives us many things to enjoy as well as to reflect on, not least the opening of the new café at the fort which itself is one of the gems in Thurrock’s heritage.

“I would urge as many of you as possible to come along, remember the sacrifices made, but also make the most of the fort and its facilities.”

The First World War commemoration sports day will be held on Monday August 24 at Coalhouse Fort in East Tilbury. It is free to enter and will run from 11am until 3pm and has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Thurrock’s First World War committee.

Exhibitions about sports from the war years by Thurrock Museum and the new Engine Room Café will also be built as part of the Heritage Lottery Funding allocated to the fort.

The Known Soldier is written by Essex author Duncan Wood and tells the story of a university student who learns more than he bargained for about the Great War when he successfully bids for a service medal on ebay.