Founded 1980
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Graham Smith
Jan Thompson
Graham Mumby-Croft


 Issue No. 83 Autumn 2020

Paul Laxton
REMEMBERING ARTHUR WILLIAMSON - THE 40th ANNIVERSARY EDITION 
Your Committee decided late last year to mark the 40th anniversary of the publication of the RPGA newsletter with a special colour edition. 

My big concern as editor was not being able to source sufficient material that would justify the additional cost. Thankfully my appeal for archive material did not go unheeded, and former editor, Brendan O'Friel, delved into his cupboards and produced a treasure trove, which has allowed me to select pieces for an 8-page retro section in this newsletter. 

The material provided by Brendan has allowed me to ensure that the founder of the RPGA Newsletter, Arthur Williamson, is properly celebrated. Inside you will find his reflections which describe how the Newsletter began. I have also included in full two other contributions from Mr Williamson both from 1990, one reflecting on the Strangeways riot, the other ruminating on the future. Readers will recall that 1990 was the year in which the Major government, to its everlasting shame, introduced a Criminal Justice Bill which became an Act the following year, permitting the Home Secretary to contract out newly built prisons. 

I cannot thank Brendan enough for his assistance in ensuring that the 40th anniversary is properly marked.

I'm also obliged to Neil Johnson who also responded to my appeal and gave me a lead to follow to track down John Powls, happily still with us, who was involved from the beginning with the production of the Newsletter and was editor from 1982 to 1984. I am grateful to John for his contribution to this edition, and for the insight, he gives into the character of Arthur Williamson. It's interesting to note that for the first sixteen years of its existence, the Newsletter was actually edited by a serving Governor. 

The roll call of editors is quite short. Arthur Williamson who edited the first five editions, John Powls, Brendan O'Friel, Mick Roebuck, and myself. By far the majority of editions were edited by Brendan, who took over as editor in 1984, continuing as sole editor beyond his retirement in 1996, through to 2005 from whence he alternated with Mick Roebuck until 2011, after which Mick took over as sole editor until giving way to me in 2015. Arthur Williamson did not just perform a stint as editor, he also performed the role of Letters Editor for thirty-three editions. Speaking of 40th anniversaries, this will be the 40th issue in which Bob Duncan has edited 'Your Letter.' Long may he continue. Thanks again to Brendan for the potted history.

I will keep my reflections on the Covid 19 epidemic short, not least because the full ramifications are still to play out. My condolences go out to those of you who had the misfortune to lose friends and relatives. If anything good is to emerge from the pandemic, let us hope that it is the long overdue root and branch reform that is needed of the broken social care system. 

Finally, it would be remiss of me not to pay tribute to those still in harness whose magnificent efforts to keep our prisons safe, decent and secure at great risk to themselves during the pandemic, have gone largely unacknowledged in the media. Their task was made all the more difficult by the complete failure of ministers to recognise that numbers needed to be reduced drastically and cell sharing completely banned. 

The retired branch salutes you.

PAUL LAXTON, Editor