Got another hours wait now sat at a coffee shop while those 2 go shopping in that cheap looking place over yonder...
Just thought...I forgot to hand them my wallet
Got another hours wait now sat at a coffee shop while those 2 go shopping in that cheap looking place over yonder...
Just thought...I forgot to hand them my wallet
Saw this posh ice cream van near Kensington Palace yesterday and thought this will top his 5 quid for a 99...
Not even close
Coffee? You've changed, Dill, you've changed!
Is that really a picture of me sitting on your daughter's ice cream? You have problems.
But it was nice to see Citty parked up next to your cafe!
Anyway, been to Stone Henge enroute to Portsmouth... just arrived and met up with my oldest mate. Went posh this time and got ajoining rooms in the Holiday Inn. His son and my daughter are getting on like a house on fire and playing Roblox already... we're off to find cider!
HMS Victory tomorrow! Happy days!
Oh have you tried this cider yet?
Afyer a few It tastes a lot like 3 inches
^ Yeah, can't wait to try that when I get home. I know where to get the perfect sausages.
^Make it and see if mini-Mendip picks up on what you've done. Dinner and a geography/history lesson all in one
^ That will be my plan!
To be honest your effort isn't very realistic - I wish I could post a photo - but the uprights don't look like that and there's a lot of the horizontal capping stones missing, and there's no entrance ramp.
^It's not actually my effort and is a photo someone posted in a local food group recently for a laugh! And I've been to Stonehenge before, it's along the way to a training facility we use to use in Exeter. It's not exactly Palmyra or Giza, but it's interesting nevertheless!
^ I never knew that Hilda Ogden liked a 99!
Anyway, did you enjoy your 10 inches the other night?
I'm down to the last weekend of my pilgrimage... it's been a busy few days and I'm all behind. A few days ago we went to Shepton Mallet for the morning. We found this old, high wall and followed it round...
... to the entrance of Shepton Mallet Prison of course, or HMP Cornhill as it was also known.
Shepton Mallet Prison was built in 1627 and closed in 2013. Now you can have a look around without having to commit a crime first.
A bit of info...
The visitor cubicles are located close to the entrance. The daughter seemed to be acting the 'angry wife' for some reason. My wife runs strong in her!
And then into the inner sanctum.
Soon after entering the secure part of the prison we found the firing squad wall.
This was the exact spot that those American servicemen stood in front of the firing squad. It was a strange feeling to stand in the same location that people have been executed but as luck would have it, while I stood there a big chunk of mortar came off in my hand so I quickly pocketed it for my rock collection.
And this looked like an old bullet hole to me.
On we went.
The punishment cells.
The rock breaking room. That would have been right up my street.
The security area where prisoners were searched was at the entrance to the prison wings.
There was a couple of 17th Century cells before the main prison wings.
If you were a short person you could probably just about lie down in these cells with your legs straight. There was no window and I think it would have been a nightmare if you were a bit claustrophobic like meself.
Not a lot of privacy either.
And then on to the Victorian prison wings. Before we entered we walked past the exercise area... you were allowed an hour a day I believe. The windows in the wall are the cell windows. It must have been a bit noisy in the cells behind the basketball hoop.
And onward...
The prison wings had three levels. I think the wire netting was strung across to prevent suicides.
They could have filmed Porridge in Shepton Mallet Prison, or maybe they all look the same?
And here's a cell. To be honest it doesn't look so bad after spending three days in the Travelodge in London.
Another cell on a different wing. They all looked exactly the same.
The Prison Governor's office... he did slightly better.
And another cell. The bed straps were made out of metal and weren't at all comfortable. I don't know if you were allowed TVs in the cells in recent times but it must have got awfully boring without any entertainment.
I wonder how many hours, days, weeks, months or years or maybe decades previous inmates spent lying on their bunk, staring at this exact same view of the closed cell door. A strange feeling.
You could always stare at the ceiling of course.
The view out of the window. No trains at least and it looks as though the window could be opened at will.
Children have also been incarcerated in Shepton Mallet Prison. I gave the daughter a short talk about the consequences of bad behavior.
All the cells were en-suite. The Kray twins spent a few weeks here in the 60s... as did many other notorious prisoners. It made me wonder who had sat on this khazi before me.
And onward to the execution room. There have been many executions at Shepton Mallet Prison over the years.
The entrance to the execution room is on the right. The hatch looks though to the Condemned Man's cell.
The Condemned Man spent his last 10 days in the Condemned Man's Cell, constantly accompanied by two prison officers to prevent suicide but also to keep him or her company.
That is the Execution Room right next door to the Condemned Man's Cell. The door at the end was hidden by a false bookcase so that the Condemned Man didn't know he was spending his last 10 days right next door to the place he would be hanged.
There must have been a lot of emotion in this room over the years. Some people say that they can feel stuff like that but I tried and didn't really feel anything.
Across the corridor from the Condemned Man's Cell was the Executioner's Accommodation. The Executioner arrived at his accommodation at 4am the day prior to the execution, so he spent around a full day there before a dawn execution. I don't know the reason for this custom.
I'm sure that sleep came a little easier in this room than on the cell across the corridor.
And into the Execution Room.
And there's the place. It's quite obvious where the Condemned Man stood before the drop. The white marker to the right of the wooden cage was where the lever that operated the drop was located.
Another view, looking back at the door of the Condemned Man's Cell. The Pierrepoint family were an executioner dynasty and led the development of humane executions using the drop method of hanging that immediately breaks the neck if the calculations have been done correctly (weight versus drop distance). Apparently one of the Pierrepoints completed an execution at Shepton Mallet Prison in just 7 seconds from leading the Condemned Man from his cell to the death by hanging.
Some terminology...
All good things must come to an end and eventually it was time to leave. It was good to be back outside after the grimness of the prison wings and execution area, even with the constant reminder of where we were by the razor wire.
But this is definitely the best side of a prison wall to be on. Hopefully another lesson learnt for the daughter as I strive to keep her on the straight and narrow!
I would have to say that walking around Shepton Mallet Prison wasn't exactly a fun-filled morning so to cheer the daughter up I picked up her cousin and we stopped at an ice cream van, of course. It would be difficult to find cousins with such different colouring.
You know you're in Somerset when a tractor joins the ice cream queue!
Luvly jubbly, and under 7 quid if my memory serves me correctly.
Another day in Somerset.
Last edited by Mendip; 13-08-2022 at 04:08 AM.
I thought you hopped over to Germany to tour the Stasi HQ. Looks quite similar.
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