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Issue 78 Spring 2018
You thought I had retired: so did I. I have from the Committee but remain committed to the Newsletter and working with my replacement, my friend and colleague Roger Outram. We have agreed to share this edition and Roger will gradually stamp his own style on future editions. Firstly though, I wish to thank you all for your contributions and positive comments over the years. I cannot believe I have been at it for 18 years, so it is clearly time to move on, but it has been a real thrill and joy to hear from so many, and I will miss that. Also too many of my contemporaries have now passed on. I would also wish to thank the current Committee for their splendid gift of a beautiful garden bench in recognition of my efforts; I was rather overwhelmed by their generosity. Its’ timing was also significant as it arrived just as I had received news of the death my long-standing friend, Alan Rawson: its’ arrival really did help cheer my spirits.
It also gives me chance to say a formal farewell to Alan whose funeral I attended on 2 nd of January at St. Michael and All Angels’ Church, Shelf. Alan was born in 1938, and grew up in Little Horton where he was a member of All Saints Church choir. He was also the only boy in Bradford in the 1950s to win a free scholarship to Bradford Grammar School. It was a great honour for Alan and his Headmaster. He had a younger twin brother and sister and they all adored each other. The family took their summer holidays in either Scarborough or Bridlington, and one year his mother persuaded the 14-year-old Alan to take part in a talent competition on the pier. He played the piano brilliantly and won first prize.
Alan was eligible for National Service, and enquired of his older school mates what his best option was. As Alan was good with languages, and liked his food, they suggested the intense Chinese Course in the RAF which was held at a country house and served up very good food. So Alan was selected, trained and passed out as proficient. The rationale behind the whole exercise was that those who qualified would be based in Hong Kong and listen in to the Chinese radio transmissions to pick up what they were planning or plotting. The final hurdle was the medical, which the RAF left to the very end having invested time and effort in the training, and Alan was deemed ‘unfit’ to serve abroad. So he never left England let alone seeing Hong Kong, which he would have adored. He never lost his love of the language.
Alan initially worked in a bank, and then tried being a librarian. Suddenly, applied, to his families ’ surprise, in 1962 he applied to become a trainee Governor in the Prison Service. Nobody can recall what motivated this, but it was the Service’s gain. He was initially posted to Usk Borstal, where he received the Secretary of State’s commendation for bravery in apprehending two armed absconders.
He transferred to Dover Borstal where we first met. We both gave up our Saturdays off to play rugby with the lads’ team, mostly away matches and we never lost a lad. We had a lot in common, and the rugby probably cemented the relationship. Alan moved to Wetherby and I to Pollington, so we were near enough to keep in touch, but still played rugby but for our respective Borstals, so against each other now. At this point Alan was seeing a most attractive and personable young lady, but due to the interference of somebody who had no right, it came to an end, and Alan remained a bachelor all his life.
When I married and had children, Alan became part of the family and came on holiday with us, often to Salzburg which Alan adored as there was music everywhere. Then later we ventured further afoot and drove to Croatia, a country which we all loved and continued to go until Alan was no longer able to travel.
Alan also served at Manchester, Albany, and then as Deputy Governor at Wakefield when Brian Emes was the Governor. I had been posted to the Staff College in Love Lane and soon after my arrival Alan popped in to alert me that one of my house officers from Dover, Freddy Fearon, had gone to Leeds on Promotion but had got into some trouble there and been demoted and posted to Wakefield, so that if I bumped into him, to be a bit sensitive. I bore it in mind, and few days later set off to go into town at lunch time: coming up Love lane were several officers. Suddenly from 100 yards away a voice boomed, ‘Hi Mr. Duncan, it’s me Freddy. I got into trouble at Leeds so they demoted me and sent me here’. So much for sensitivity!
Alan also served in Headquarters in the Young Offenders’ Division where he felt he could make a real contribution. With his wealth of knowledge he was respected by the career civil servants, and his approach was to support and encourage the Governors and staff of the establishments within his remit. He was also Governor of Cardiff during the period when the Service was facing a spate of riots, and he handled the one at Cardiff well. He was at this point very popular with many colleague rugby fans, as they all wished to know if they could park at the prison for the matches at Cardiff Arms Park. He was then asked to take charge of the opening and management of the new prison Holme House near Stockton-on Tees, which he did very successfully, and that was how he came to live in Ingleby Arncliffe.
You never knew what to expect when you visited Alan except that you would be made comfortable and well looked after. On one visit he said, ‘Be careful when you go into the kitchen, there is a bit of a problem with the floor.’ That was an understatement: there was no floor, just a long plank from one side to the other which bent when you reached the middle. He had the habit of running the kitchen tap for the washing up and then wandering and being distracted by something else that caught his attention. Who sorted it all out? - His brother-in-law Robin. They were a very close-knit family and would do anything for each other.
Alan was also President of his local cricket club, and served on the local council. I can recall when he came down to visit me in Cambridgshire and we went to Spalding for Alan to buy sacks of daffodil bulbs. He had all the hedgerows and grass borders planted with them. So if you are ever driving through Ingleby Arncliffe in the Spring, and see a host of golden daffodils, think of Alan.
He was a kind and generous man, a fine musician, a good cook and a proficient knitter of jumpers and toys, well-read and with a zest for life which he lived to the full. He was also a character and a free spirit never short of ideas on how he wished to live his life. He sadly entered a nursing home for the last few years of his life, where he was very well looked after (all the female residents adored him) and he never complained. It was sad to see him so incapacitated but he retained his dry wit to the end and loved recounting some of the laughs we had on our various adventures abroad. Farewell dear friend, there is always a place in my heart for you.
It was good to meet up with some other dear colleagues at the funeral: Mike Newell, Tim Newell, Bill Martin, Walter MacGowan, and Veronica Bird, all looking well for their age. I had been in touch with Brian Emes, as he and Al Papps used to meet up every so often for lunch until Alan had to give up driving. Brian (84) said he would have liked to have attended the funeral but age and the weather meant it was impossible, which applies to many of our colleagues now. Brian said he was well for his age but was only now really in contact with Al and Joe Pilling.
Some who came to the funeral depended on others to get them there. David Neal who knew Alan from the time he was in Headquarters and had kept in touch, believed in the advert ‘to let the train take the strain.’ Unfortunately his particular train from London was feeling the ‘strain’ and broke down and got him there 3 hours late! So alternative travel arrangements do not always turn out as expected! He formally retired from the Prison Service in 2002, many will remember him from when he worked in Suicide Prevention and he made many visits to establishments. David also undertook some work with the Health Service, and has also been involved with voluntary work. He remains in touch with Brian Caffery, and they meet up every so often. Like others mentioned above, he is not able to drive long distances anymore, but does still drive locally. He is re- learning to play the violin and learning more foreign languages, currently Russian! He is a keen bird watcher and has trip planned to Armenia and Georgia, hence the Russian. He clearly lives a varied and versatile life in retirement. He wishes to send his good wishes to all those who remember him.
Pentonville Prison celebrated 175 years of its’ opening on the 21st December 2017. I was privileged to be involved in some of the preparation, so knew that they planned to invite back as many ex-Governors as they could contact. Bill Abbott was the only other one to make it; he has fully retired now from all the other work he took up on retirement. Kevin Brewer was contacted, he now lives in France and stated he was not interested in anything to do with Prison Service (not surprising as he did not take much interest when he was in it !) The only other Governor still around that I knew was Rowland Adams, but at over 90 he was not up to the travel. My contact at Pentonville had told me he had traced relations and descendents of former Governors; one name he mentioned was Gareth Davies. On the celebration day I was at the Gate booking in when another invited guest arrived, and introduced himself as Gareth Davies. I responded by stating that I knew Governor Davies. He replied that he doubted it, as the Davies he was related to was the 9th Governor (1905-1919). Even I am not that old!
It was a fascinating event as they had traced a direct descendent of the of the first Governor Robert Hoskings and of the famous architect Joshua Jebb. Neither had been in a prison before but where proud of their ancestor and wanted to talk about what they had achieved. There were also descendants of the original Board of Commissioners. Pentonville was unique in that it was established by its ’ own Act of Parliament, given Royal Assent by Queen Victoria on 18th June 1842, and instead of the normal Committee of Visiting Justices, it had a Board of Commissioners personally appointed by the Queen on advice from her Privy Council. The original Board were an impressive lot and included: Lord Wharncliffe, Duke of Richmond, Earl of Devon, Earl of Chichester, Lord John Russell, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Major Joshua Jebb, Sir Benjamin Brodie, Bart, and Rev Whitworth Russell.
What was of interest talking to the variety of invited guests was firstly their slight anxiety on the thought of entering a prison, but secondly how impressed they all were with the staff they had met and with the cleanliness and range of facilities available in the prison, so do not believe all you read in the media. Having mentioned the media, allow me to set out how fickle a lot of it is. If you have good news they are not interested, as demonstrated by a very positive Press Release from Elmley Prison last year. This year The Independent Monitoring Board Report (composed in October/November 2017), but not released by the Secretariat until 18th January 2018) had quite a lot to say about Carillion which was of course very topical at the moment of the Report’s release. Just to give a flavor of what was written:
‘The works services which are provided by Carillion have been a total disaster. The Board reported last year on the inefficiency of the service and despite re-assurances by the Minister that it would improve, the Board are unable to detect any such improvement. When it takes 3 months to attend to a major leak, with thousands of cubic metres of water being wasted, let alone the cost to the establishment; when it takes 3 months to replace 3 plastic bolts on the toilet doors in the Ladies in the Visitors ’ Centre; when basic maintenance to equipment in the kitchen is not undertaken, when damage to cells has not been attended to for long periods; it is a serious situation. The works’ staff are themselves willing; it is the mountain of bureaucracy that is the problem.
Prisons have had their own internal workforce since 1842 when Pentonville was opened, and it has worked well to everyone’s satisfaction. It has been known that someone in the upper echelons of power has desired to contract out Works Services for over 20 years, so it was not a rushed job planned on the back of a cigarette packet. Allegedly detailed financial analysis was undertaken which revealed that £125 million would be saved. What was surprising from the outcome was the selection of Carillion, as the firm was known to be heavily in debt prior to the contract being agreed. The Board had to assume that the same level of performance would continue and with a saving of £125 million it was difficult to see any objection. In fact it was subsequently revealed that neither condition had been met. Repairs to prisoner accommodation were not attended to amongst other deficiencies and the saving of £125 million completely disappeared because someone had not understood the financial implications and used the wrong figures! The Board has to ask how you can miscalculate to the tune of £125 million.
This has been a catastrophic blunder: Carillion has just reported a £1.2 billion pre-tax loss for the last trading year and has a huge pension deficit. The Board would recommend and urge the Minister to restore works services to an “in- house works department.’’
This generated quite a lot of local media interest, and particularly with live radio interviews, if you plan you can dictate to some extent other news you wish to get across such as some of the positive developments at the establishment. So to get media attention it is often just a stroke of luck according to what is ‘topical’ at the time.
The other interesting issue is how badly briefed a number of these local radio personalities are, and it is not too difficult to correct them, which gives you the upper hand. I thank those early days on the PGA committee when we all leant to deal regularly with the media. Such fun when you pull it off!
I last saw John and Jean Childs at Bernard’s funeral; they had kept in touch over the years visiting each other. John states they spent Christmas at their daughter as ‘they spoil us rotten.’ Always good to hear of the elderly being cared for! They still have one son living and working in Hong Kong, and another in Singapore. They have 4 grandsons all doing degrees at British universities, though one is in care work whilst also studying. John and Jean do not travel abroad now as they used to, but they do get out for a walk every day.
I managed to fit in a visit to Danny and Joan Ozanne: as ever they remain cheerful, although Joan has difficulty walking and Danny has regular checkups at the hospital. He will be 90 later this year, and is looking very good for his age. We indulged in several trips down ‘memory lane’ of times we shared in the Service. It makes so much difference when you can share such happy memories.
Paul Wailen sends brief news that he is well and continues to lead a busy life with his circle of friends and with his frequent travelling abroad. We have by co-incidence both recently been to Lake Bled in Slovenia: it is a delightful country with magnificent scenery of beautiful valleys and high mountains. The lake itself is so serene.
Ron and Sue Curtis who are themselves well, but like so many of us now, it has been a year of too many funerals. Their passion for Scotland remains and they were off to Orkney again, this time to see the archaeological site at the Ness of Brodgar which is only active for a few weeks in the summer. So far they have found remains going back to 5,000BC. Ron also went with his two sons backpacking on the Orkney island of Hoy in late September. It was wet, windy but wonderful. They have also been to visit their son in Eindhoven where he lives and works. Ron says it is a city that is constantly developing, not least on the site of the old Philips factories, once the major industry in the city.
I have had a fascinating letter from Rowland Adams, who claims to be one of the oldest of the retired Governors at 94, who can still put pen to paper and I can read it. He joined the Prison and Borstal Service at Portland in 1947, firstly as a House Master, renamed Gov 5, then A.G.2. (It goes on: now you would be a band E!) He writes, ‘I retired from Pentonville in 1983 after 6 years as a Governor 1, which gives me 36 years’ service and so far 34 years’ pension. I wanted to add my thanks to you for all the hard work you have put in with the RPGA. Over the years the Newsletter has developed considerably and is an excellent way of keeping in touch with old friends.
I am delighted to note that strong criticism is being made of the current state of prisons. As Governor of Pentonville I worked hard to keep it clean and efficient and, despite Headquarters, I think I achieved that. I was proud to be Governor of Pentonville and was shocked to read that in 2013- 2015 it had been considered ‘unfit for purpose’. The Prison Service had once been a proud and close-knit service. I regret that it is no longer so. Of course there are many reasons for this but Headquarters must be mainly at fault. Apart from osteoporosis, which makes walking any distance painful, I am in good shape. I still drive, but only short distances. I have an excellent team of helpers who keep the garden, the cottage and me up to scratch. Thank goodness for a pension. Every best wishes. Rowland.’
How lovely to receive such an inspirational letter. We all hope you pension will last longer than your service.
I have recently met up with Chris Scott now that he has moved to Kent. He is missing the Midlands where he grew up and where he retired. He says it was a round table decision by his family, which he lost! He now lives in a delightful village in north Kent with a good library, excellent medical practice and essential shops all in walking distance, and members of his family nearby. He has the onset of Alzheimer ’s but it is being contained at the moment. We were able to talk ‘prisons’ for several hours nonstop, but Chris says he was sent to buy some meat at the local butcher/vegetable store with even a list, but could not recall what he was suppose to buy, so returned with a cabbage! He misses meeting up with John Aldridge which he used to do regularly, but keeps in touch by phone. He says John is very well and goes to the gym regularly and follows a healthy lifestyle. I can still remember the magnificent buffet lunches John used to serve up when we had Regional Meetings at Stoke Heath.
Chris is also in touch with Mike Lewis by phone. Mike is still involved in his coin collection and is well known for it locally. He had a bad spate of ‘flu over Christmas, but is now fully recovered. Unfortunately, like so many now, driving any distance is no longer an option.
News from Abi Sheik that it has been a difficult year as his wife Zarina has continuous back pain and cannot walk far nor do any household chores, except she insists on doing the cooking. She is only prescribed pain killers, which have little effect, as any other possible treatment would be very expensive. Abi still looks after the gardens at the community centre, but finds it more difficult now to do as much as is required. The difficult part is the large pond: keeping that clean and the fountain running takes a lot of effort. At the end of the day when I see people taking photographs and I hear their comments, he feels gratified. he reflects whether in these times of financial restraint, we ought to revert back to the old ‘Stars and Ordinaries’ system, and concentrate education and training on the Stars (first offenders) as they have a much higher success rate.
Dave and Ann Simons have been through a rough patch health wise: last year Dave had heart problems requiring him to be in hospital for a period, and Ann had to go in for kidney stone removal. When that was all over they both went down with ‘flu. Then Dave slipped and pulled all the muscles in his back so was receiving treatment from a physiotherapist Ann then had a bad fall and broke the ball of the ball and socket joint in her left shoulder in five pieces and also fractured the left side of her pelvis. Ann is now recovering, albeit slowly, so Dave has been busy on the domestic front, and says he is ‘confined to barracks’. Despite all that he still remains cheerful and wishes to send his best regards to all his colleagues.
Sheila and Jim Blakey have also been facing health problems; Sheila with her ongoing problems with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Jim being ill last year, so that Sheila had problems coming down the stairs and Jim going up – sounds like ‘Jack and Jill went up the hill and Jack fell down and Jill came tumbling after’ - but no longer: they decided it was time to buy a bungalow. That turned into a bit of a nightmare, they wished to move to Long Buckby but found there was a severe shortage of bungalows. Their first attempt at a nice property in the grounds of the oldest house in the village had to be aborted when they discovered they would have to take out a policy for £75,000 to cover a joint responsibility for an extensive stone wall surrounding both properties. Also some very large trees very close to the bungalow had a Preservation Order and could not be removed. A second property became available; they initially felt it was too small, but took advice and decided they could have it adapted as they wanted. They had to be quick as there were 6 other parties interested in it and then they brought in the experts to re- design it as they wanted, followed by 12 stressful weeks of builders on site, finishing just before Christmas. Jim says it is in a very quiet spot and they are finding it much easier than the house. Their son, Paul and Lynn live only 5 minutes walk away and walk their dog round regularly. Well done, let ’s hope life will be hassle free now! They send their best wishes to everyone.
The Rev Tom Johns (he was the new chaplain at Wellingborough Borstal when I was there in the seventies) has sent a lovely little missive about one of his inmate orderlies who in September become a member of the Monastic Order at Mirfield. He writes, ‘I packed my life in a basement room and was allowed to take a few things to my small bedroom/study, a rather dramatic downsize from my flat. Monastic life has begun, and it is good. Here each morning our day of prayer starts at 7.30 with Matins, followed by breakfast then lectures until midday Eucharist. We live in common life: that means we dress the same, eat the same and prefer the needs of others over ourselves. That is not as easy as it sounds: I do tend to speak my mind, which keeps things a little realistic.’
On the 30th January I attended the book launch at Pentonville Prison of Veronica Bird’s book, ’Veronica’s Bird’. The prison staff could not have been more helpful, and Veronica spoke regularly in her many interviews of the quality of staff in the Service. The book received a full review in the Sunday Times colour supplement and in the Northern Echo. More will now follow, as well as television, and book launches.
It was a privilege for me to be back at Pentonville and to be greeted by so many staff who still remembered me. It is still a ‘great prison’: it just needs those in ‘power’ to recognize that and allocate finance to its’ upkeep. We do not need to waste millions on badly-designed, badly-located, and overpriced privately financed deals likely to need major refurbishment within a short space of time. Prisoners and their families are happy with the location of London prisons, and do not wish to have to travel miles to some desolate outpost.
Harry Crew has also been busy on the computer and has published a book entitled ‘Prisons I have Known’, the two central establishments are Gloucester and Askam Grange.
Mike Selby, who is only just back from another trip to New Zealand, has provided excellent reviews of both books; and they are included separately. Readers will note that in both cases some of the finance raised will be going to charities associated with the Prison Service. So there you are, spoilt for choice!
Now it is time to hand over to Roger. Bob Duncan
Feb 2018
Dear Reader,
Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Roger Outram and I find myself the new, if not improved, “Your Letters” Editor of this prestigious publication. I have recently become a Committee member and this position was bestowed on me by my very good friend Bob Duncan who has been editing this section of the magazine for many years.
My prison journey commenced in 1974 as an Officer at HMP Leeds where I was promoted to SO in 1982 and remained at Leeds until 1988 when I was seconded into the PSITG group to install LIDS in the North Region. I was promoted to PO in 1991 and joined the commissioning team at HMP Belmarsh, where I spent two years as PO i/c the Special Secure Unit. I was subsequently promoted to GV and Head of Security (Operations) leaving Belmarsh in 1999 to become the Deputy Controller at HMP Wolds where I was promoted to ‘E’ grade (GIV in old money and Band 8 in new). After 2 years there I transferred to HMP Doncaster as Deputy Controller, where I had a succession of Controllers who were simply transitioning into Governing Governor roles. As a result I spent most of the time I was at Doncaster temporarily promoted to D grade (GIII, now band 9) from where I retired the Service in 2004.
I suspect that my approach to the task will, needs must, be very different to that of Bob ’s because many of the members are so well known to Bob personally and thus he was able to personalise much of his letters section content. While I recognise many names in the membership I am never going to have the depth of knowledge brought to the task as Bob. All I can promise is that I will faithfully represent all the contributions made by you, the readers, and hope that you continue to keep us informed of your doings over the next years.
Please correspond with me as you did with Bob and we will soon be well acquainted
My contact details are:
MOB: 07881 924005, EMAIL: roger@rsoutram.co.uk
