Headlines are not always what they seem!
Yesterday we went to do something we have wanted to do for ages and just never got round to. We went to do a tour of Shepton Mallet Prison. And I highly recommend it.
The jail - which goes back to the 1600's, has a fascinating history. It housed its first inmates in 1625 and saw so many changes in its long history, including becoming the county jail, the place for executions, an American military prison, the place where the national document archive was housed, a category C prison for those service life sentences and it finally closed as a prison in 2013. You can read all about THE HISTORY OF THE PRISON HERE
Our tour guide was excellent and the two hour tour passed in a flash. We learnt so much about how inhumane the prisons were, how they had hard labour and were totally separated from each other, wearing hoods whenever they were with other prisoners. We learnt about the executions, both by hanging and firing squad and also about the long drop building which became standard in the mid 1800's as a 'more humane' way of execution. The good executions could take a man from the condemned cell next to the long drop, tie his ankles and place the noose and then drop all in 7 seconds! We learnt about it being the second most haunted place in the country and we spent time in the cells, both old (1600's) and new (victorian) We learned about the many things filmed there and it was all fascinating.
The levels had been build up over the years - this is Nigel crawling out of one of the 1600 period cells.
After our prison tour we broke out of jail and went to meet our wonderful godson and his wife at a local pub for a superb lunch and a lovely catch up. The food was fab - the company even better. My goodness you should have seen the desserts
Today we went to see the snowdrops at Kingston Lacy. Thankfully we arrived early as by the time we left it was VERY busy
Today I am thankful for
- a wonderful couple of days
- our godson and wife - they are a blessing in our lives
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