Letters

Founded 1980

Chair:

Secretary:

Treasurer:

Graham Smith

Jan Thompson

Graham Mumby-Croft

Issue 80 Spring 2019

Dear Mr Brett,

Thank you for sending the Autumn Retired Governors newsletter to me. As always it made very

interesting reading. Not least the life and career of Adrian Arnold. He was a very busy man!

He had moved on from Huntercombe before I joined the Admin staff in 1978 but his name was still on everyone's lips. A couple of weeks ago I got together with our friends Retired HSO Barry Parfitt and his

wife Tricia and, as is often the case, the subject of Huntercombe came up. We were trying to recall the

names of each of the governors that we had known, and the most memorable for Barry was Mr Arnold. He talked about all the good work he had done here and how very much he was missed when he moved on.

*I left in 2005 to become Peters carer following his stroke. I saw many changes both before and since.+ My husband, Peter, did not know him, of course, as he had left long before Peter worked here, but it struck me as a huge coincidence that their names should appear alongside each other in the list of those who had passed away. *Peter in February and Mr Arnold in May+

By the way, would you please correct my name in your records. I am Christine, (not Barbara as on your postal address label..) Thanks

Christine Fincham

Once again my everlasting thanks to my very good friend Bob Duncan for all that now follows his circle of aquantances and friends continue to provide a vast amount of material that he collates for me and I am sure it will interested you as much as it does me.

Roger O

YOUR LETTERS SPRING 2019

Margery Marchant is now well settled in her care home and well looked after by the staff. Her family visit regularly and are very supportive, but Margery still misses Bernard very much. She says she is also getting very forgetful: but on the phone, we have a nice chat about former times and the

wonderful characters we were privileged to work with.

The event of the Year, which only comes to full fruition in March, is the marriage of Kate Lomax (nee: Warburton) and Kit Jarman. They were both members of the 21st Staff Course in 1964, which by coincidence consisted of 21 members. I was one of those, but was unaware at the time that these two had a bit of a ‘relationship.’ For different reasons both decided after a few years in the Service, that it was not for them, and set off on new careers; Kate with the probation service and in due course marriage to Brian, also a probation officer. Kate remained a friend of my family and we kept in touch over the years. Kate did not give up entirely on the prison service, as much, later on, she was accepted as an Independent Monitoring Board member at Onley.

Kit was more elusive, after resigning from Portland Borstal, he trained for the Ministry, once qualified he joined the Royal Marines as a Chaplain. He also married somewhere along the line. I was aware to a degree of some of that but then lost complete contact, as did Kate.

Brian died, but not before both of them had been on a thrilling cruise to the Antarctic. Kate decided she would venture on another cruise on her own. Looking around the ship ’s library, she came across a copy of Croxford, the directory of all vicars. Thumbing through, she alighted on the name of Rev. C Jarman, with his current address and telephone number. He had left the Marines, become divorced, and moved over to the Scottish Episcopal Church and was based in Oban. Kate made the decision to make contact and subsequently to meet up, so set off on the long journey from Rugby to Oban.

Kit had been ill with cancer for 3years, and at one point was unable to wash or dress himself, or even walk. He states he received excellent care and support in Scotland, nothing short of fantastic. With that and his Royal Marines background, he set about learning to walk again, which he achieved. He then set about organizing a sponsored walk to raise money for the various charities that had given him so much support and encouragement.

In the summer of 2018 they came down to visit me, Kit had clearly matured into a fine ‘young’ man’

from all the life experiences he has been through. We had a lot to talk about having not been in touch for 50 years. The relationship between Kit and Kate has matured, and in November they became engaged, and the wedding (after some ecclesiastical hiccups were eventually resolved) will be held in The Chapel of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford on 30 March 2019.

Both are strong-willed and neither really wanted to leave there current abode and local friends. Such is love that it was resolved, Kate will sell her house and is buying a bungalow in a nearby village, and Kit will move down.

I just find it so romantic that a flicker of a flame 50 years ago has now burst into a full burning bush. But then the 21st staff course was full of so many intriguing characters, unfortunately so many have departed, so it great to have such a happy story to tell.

Bill Abbott sent me an article about the ‘LYKE WAKE WALK’ with a heading ‘Why would anyone want to hike 40 miles in less than a day? Because this ‘death march’ is the Yorkshire equivalent of climbing Everest. I served with Bill at Pollington Borstal and he introduced me to the walk which I undertook with him. On a later occasion, we had a friend from Belgium staying with us who was a very keen walker and wished to tackle the walk. My wife was pregnant at the time but insisted that I should undertake the support role by driving them there and meeting up during the walk at various points to ensure they were OK to continue and to pick them up at the finish. Jane had already been admitted to hospital, but birth had been slow. I phoned the hospital from an isolated phone box on the moor, only to discover that my daughter had been born an hour ago. Once the walk was successfully completed we all made a speedy drive to Wakefield hospital. So the walk has a special memory for me, as Bill kindly reminded me in his email.

Bill was a great walker, and every weekend on duty he would take a group of Borstal Lads up to the fells and undertake a walk. Normally they would all return between 4 and 5pm, in time for the evening meal. On one occasion it was gone 6 pm, and as the Duty Governor I was getting anxious (no mobile phones in those days). It turned out that a local farmer had spotted them trouping over the fell on a wet afternoon, and had invited them all in for a slap-up tea.

What a lot we lost when some idiot politician decided that Youth Custody was the ‘in thing’ with all sentences now determinate. I remember it well as I had recently been posted to Wellingborough Borstal and discovered that there was only one other person out of all the staff who understood how to calculate release dates, taking all the relevant factors into account. So training had to be implemented immediately. All staff now had to be in uniform. In the current trend to ‘normalize’ prison, I can imagine some bright spark in the Ministry of Justice someday in the future coming up with the amazing idea of ‘why not put staff in Young Offenders establishments in civilian clothing! ’

Good to hear from Danny and Joan Ozanne, though Danny does not write a lot these days, but we had a chat on the phone. He has early signs of dementia but remains active, and at 90 years of age must be one of the oldest members. If we talk about the ‘old days in the service’ his mind is as clear as a bell.

For those who remember Abi Sheikh, he has not had a good 2018, his wife, Zarina’s medical condition has deteriorated and she is only able to walk a few feet. Abi has had a chair lift installed and modified the bathroom to help with the condition. He adds, life now is one continuous round of hospital appointments, some as far away as 30 miles. The most recent hospital appointment confirmed that

Zarina has the onset of Parkinson Disease, which is only going to get worse. Then to add to his woes, the

water main outside his house burst badly damaging the block paving. The leak was repaired the same day, but then the battle to repair my drive began in earnest and is still going on. For 3 months Zarina could not leave the house because they had blocked the area with barriers. Despite all that Abi says he

is healthy as can be for a diabetic, but does get tired a lot easier now. He is also proud that his children and grandchildren are all doing well in their chosen careers. But looking around he says he feels much luckier than many, a colleague of great faith and determination, and an example to all of us.

Rev Tom Johns sent a Christmas card but no news this year.

Always a delight to hear from John and Jean Childs, he says they have the usual ailments of those who

reach the age of 85, and have various hospital appointments etc, but do get out every day for a walk and possibly a latté. They also had a family reunion with Simon and family from Hong Kong, and David and wife from Singapore. They now have 6 grandsons and 2 great-grandsons, so they are kept busy.

They too have kept in touch with Margery Marchant, who is now in a care home and well looked after there, and they plan to visit her in early 2019. John also thanked the team for producing the Newsletter and helping everyone to keep in touch with colleagues.

Always great to hear from Ron and Sue Curtis, I served with Ron both at Dover and at the Staff College. They mention that Sue’s mother is now 90, and they took her on a ‘Down Memory Lane’ to Cornwall where she grew up, and they visited places which she remembered and met up with family and friends who still live there. I quote ‘Mum was in her element.’ Well done Ron. Their mother still remains able to live independently at home, but unfortunately has the early onset of Alzheimer’s so will gradually need more help. I cannot claim to know Sue’s Mum, but I know where she lived, as when we were at Dover Borstal and had to undertake ‘abscond duties’, Ron always insisted we undertake it in the road she lived in! They made one trip to the continent last year to visit their son Simon who is based in Eindhoven but travels all over the world with his work. Ron asks how all these managers would be able to keep in touch without the internet.

They also managed a stay on Holy Island during Lent; Ron had always wanted to experience being cut off by the tide twice a day! They also enjoyed the special peace and quiet this Island offers. My wife, Jane was a great organizer and planner. When our children were quite young, she arranged a visit to Holy Island with precise instructions on the time to start the journey and time to arrive to achieve a safe crossing of the causeway. For once she got it all wrong; we arrived only to find the tide already sweeping in. So we drove on up to Berwick on Tweed and spent several hours there whilst the tide turned, touring the delights of this walled town lying on the river Tweed, and which has been fought over incessantly by the Scots and English during the 12th to 15th centuries and has changed hands 13 times before becoming English territory in 1482.

Ron also mentions the sad news that Caryl, Max Morrison’s wife passed away in a hospice in 2018. We both knew Max from his time at Dover.

News from Steve and Lesley Metcalfe who fume over the mess that the politicians are making over Brexit, but as he says, it will pass in course as all things do. We all endorse that. As well as his summer sailing, he has now taken up a new obsession, Bridge, which started almost accidentally, but now he is an addict – he plays 3 tournaments a week. He says he never got over retiring but Bridge helps. He

even sent me cutting from the Sunday Times by Jeremy Clarkson headed ‘Who the hell thought this

game made sense? It’s as stupid as cricket.’ I will not print it all as it would fill up 2 pages, also some of us like cricket. But there you are, any other colleagues finding retirement difficult, Bridge is the answer. Pleased to see that Steve still has time to read a decent Newspaper!

News of Chris Scott via Harry; “Thank you for the email and its very interesting attachments; having

read them all, I am more than ever relieved that I am no longer working in the Prison Service. I just do not see how Governors today can do their job with such a level of political interference in operational matters. The latest daft idea of providing pepper spray to officers might sound good at the Tory Conference, but in reality, makes it more difficult for officers to establish good relationships with prisoners. How can officers and prisoners establish maintain good relations on a one to one basis while the officer has a can of pepper spray attached to his or her belt? It’s just stupid and does nothing to promote good relationships and a positive atmosphere.

I trust you are well Harry. Thank you for your regular updates on prison matters.

I forget most things these days so I do not know whether I have told you that I have both Alzheimer ’s and Vascular Dementia. The main symptoms are forgetfulness and episodes of confusion. You sending those attachments have been very helpful to me as I am advised by the Geriatrician to keep my brain busy. I had to concentrate hard when reading them, so thanks again. We moved from the Midlands to

be nearer to our eldest daughter, it was a sensible family decision, but Mary and I are not entirely happy as we have lost contact with friends and neighbors of many years. Dementia is a dreadful disease which cannot be cured but only slowed down a little by medication. My GP tells me that it will only get worse and worse until it gets better. I asked what this meant and he said that it gets better for patients when it is so advanced that they don ’t know anything. All that said, as the Monty Python song said ‘We must look on the bright side of life’ It’s a lovely afternoon here and the dog wants a walk. That will get me out into the sunshine and one can ’t be downcast when having a walk in the fresh air and sunshine.” How true and brave of Chris to remain so positive and cheery despite his debilitating medical condition.

Further news from Colin Tanswell, who unfortunately was involved in a serious accident on Friday 13th July, whilst pruning the Wisteria at the front of the house, he fell from the ladder breaking three vertebrae. It was a task he had undertaken many times before, but he had failed to allow for the slippery lawn after a long dry spell. His consultant is happy that his bones are mending although he remains in some pain and still undergoing physiotherapy. So all you elderly colleagues be sure to firmly fix your ladder before you go scrabbling up to prune your trees. We need your membership!

Colin had replaced his love of running with cycling, but had planned to give that up in Mid August 2018 when he would have been 80; the accident brought it to an end 6 weeks early. They had also planned to visit his younger son who now lives in Winnipeg in Canada in September. That had to be postponed due to the accident, and they now hope to go in April.

He writes that it is good to be reminded of former times together and in particular the preparations to get Newbold Revel ready for Prison Service use. He distinctly remembers the RC Priest whom he liaised with over the furnishings for the chapel; he was very demanding, although it was very worthwhile to look and see the results of our endeavours at the Thanksgiving Service on the Grand Opening. He states he certainly remains proud of his contribution which was a highlight of his career; and thinks that we can both consider that we were greatly instrumental in its initial success, although without Bill Driscoll’s arm twisting it would never have seen the light of day. I endorse what Colin writes, and remember the occasion well, Douglas Hurd, as Home Secretary and his charming wife were the guests of honour, and we all had a splendid buffet, no expense spared!

Colin says he has not been back since 2002 when he gave up being Chair of the Prison Service Athletic Association. ‘I have no doubt there have been many changes, although we were assured that the expensive furnishings in the lounges would be long lasting!’

He also mentions he well remembers John Sandy as they first met in 1961 at Gaynes Hall when Colin was ‘a mere CO’ and John an AG11, they had remained in touch as John was the patron of the PSAA, but they last met up in 2002. I was pleased to put them in touch with each other. John in response informed me that Colin was a ‘breath of fresh air at Gaynes Hall and a delight to work with between 1961-63. A positive’ can do man’ then we met up again when I was Head of P7 and he was instrumental in getting Newbold Revel ready for opening.

I also asked John to update me on what he had been involved in since retirement. He was just off to Hospital for a minor operation but promised to do so once he had recovered. All went well medical wise, and true to his word he followed up with a full response.

‘Since I retired in 1990 I have been much involved in a wide range of Community activities starting with The Church at both Diocesan and Local level, I was employed by the Diplomatic Service for ten years as an Escort looking after VIP Government Visitors. I have been closely associated with the Police in Community work. I set up a local community organization to breathe new life into Godalming and was Chairman of a Vulnerable Needs Housing Association. Very involved with the Royal Surrey County Hospital and the League of Friends of Milford. For 8 years Chairman of our local state of the art Day Centre and have been a Governor of the local large Comprehensive Academy. Over a period of 5 years built an all-weather Cycle Jumps Track catering for all age groups and riders up to and including Internationals. For 10 years a member of The High Sheriffs Youth Awards Scheme. As a Waverly Councilor, I was the National Chairman of the Better Government for Older People, a strange and challenging experience being the only Conservative on a wonderful Group! You asked me to ‘blow my trumpet’, but that is all in the past now. Currently, I am The Chief Guide at The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst; I remain a Governor at the local Academy. I also continue with Clare to help run the local village fete which we have organized for the last 25 years

Our three children have produced 9 grandchildren which we adore and it is great when all 17 of us get together. We meet up with Colin Honey regularly for lunch which is always fun although both of us are beginning to feel our age.

I never fail to give thanks for my time in the Prison Service and the training and opportunities I had with such a wonderful group of men and woman. It was training that helped me in retirement which has lasted for 29 years, and I still have the urge to carry on.’

Thank you, John, for so much news; your sentiments so aptly express the feelings about the Service that many of your retired colleagues would wholeheartedly endorse. You clearly still have a zest for life,

but also the right to slow down a bit.

Some colleagues will remember Tom Robson, who was on the National POA Committee and now

retired. I knew him when he was one of the Trustees of the Shannon Trust, and I was Chair. He is well

but has no contact with the Trust now. It was great to hear from him. He writes ‘The Service has indeed fallen into disrepair. It will take some investment and determination to turn it around. Interested to see who takes the helm, I hope it is someone who will stand up for our great Service against all those who care little about it (mainly in the political field); always good to have a moan. Keep up the good work.

As I write it has just been announced that Dr Jo Farrar is to be the next Director General of the Prison Service. She is a former council chief and senior Whitehall official and is currently director -general for local government and public services at the housing and communities ministry. So by definition, like most of her senior civil servants in the Ministry of Justice, she knows little about the Prison Service. Her appointment on the 1st April 2019 may be an omen of what is to come!

My computer has a mind of its own and annoyingly lands me up where I do not expect to be. However,

recently it took me to one of the social sites, and fiddling around I discovered information on some former colleagues.

Kevin Brewer now lives in Nimes in southern France but appears to travel extensively on his beloved motorbike, so it would appear he has become one of the ‘hairy bikers’. He clearly likes the warm sunshine of southern France and bewails rainy days and the fact French wine keeps going up in price. Kevin appears to be in touch with Peter Leonard.

Veronica has had a busy schedule of meetings and media interviews, in addition, she has sold her current property and bought a

bungalow nearby which suddenly came on the market, and was a

property that she had felt she would like. So has had to face the upheaval of moving and now has builders in as it needs upgrading.

Sales of the book have done well, and Veronica has already made donations of over £1,000 to York Cancer Care, Butler Trust, and Shannon Trust, and smaller donations to Kidney research and M&S. The book is still selling well, and she is still being asked to give talks to about her life and the book to many and varied organization.

Kevin Brewer and Chris

Peter Leonard

Peter and I served together at Wellingborough Borstal. Kevin & Chris will celebrate 50 years of marriage on 27th September 2019, so our very best wishes for their future from all of us.

Almost finally but by no means least, delighted to be in touch with John and Ice Ship and receive news and greetings from the ‘Land of Smiles’ (Thailand). He says he picked up news of Paul Wallen's medical problems from the Last Newsletter and let the staff at the Mount know by social media. They were delighted that he was on the road to a full recovery. He says that they are both still enjoying life in SE Asia, and after being together for ten years, Ice decided to make an honest man of him and they married in the latter part of 2017. From the photo, you sent you both look blissfully happy. Congratulations to you both from all of your colleagues. John says ‘my heart issues seem to be on the back burner for now, though I still see the heart specialist every three months, but it means we can still enjoy our travelling, mainly in this part of the world, but we spent Christmas of 2017 with my brother in Stratford upon Avon. Ice wanted to see snow and despite my advice that a white Christmas was unlikely we went ahead with the trip, an hour after our arrival we walked through a blizzard in Covent Garden, the obsession with seeing real snow was quickly lost and we had to retire to a local hostelry to drink some Gluehwein.

The latest Safety in Custody, including Deaths in Prison, Assaults and Self Harm statistics are printed below Phil Wheatley’s comments on the Report.

“The latest Safety in Custody Quarterly makes truly worrying reading for anyone who cares about the health of our prison system. There is no good news, rates of death from all causes have increased, self-harm and violence between prisoners and towards staff have increased to reach the highest level since these statistics were first published. It should be remembered there is a time lag in the data and this publication only covers the period up to end September. Anecdotally there have been more recent signs that things may be starting to move in the right direction. Even if the rising trend comes to halt soon it will be a very long haul to get back to the levels of safety we had in the period before the end of 2012 when major cuts in funding led to so many experienced staff being encouraged to retire early and standardised lower staffing levels were imposed across the Prison Service.”

Phil Wheatley

We were also able to make a trip to Edinburgh and Reykjavik and to catch up with some former colleagues from Brixton and Jeanne Bryant from Wandsworth, and my last manager, Brian Pollett, both of whom were looking disgustingly well. Jeanne visited us in Bangkok last year along with her partner and sisters. We have a few more visitors scheduled for this year. We decided we would not visit Europe last year but then a very good flight deal cropped up, so we visited Austria, Hungary and Turkey, a most enjoyable trip which has already given the boss some future travel ideas! Plenty to see in this part of the world as well, so we ventured to Xi ’an in China, home of the Terracotta Warriors, I had always wanted to visit China, and would go back, but not during Chinese Holiday week when about 1 million Chinese people are also visiting g Xi’an. (I was privileged to visit China in the 1990,s when only the officials were allowed cars, and everyone else used a bike; to see Tiananmen Square a vast sea of bicycles was very impressive.(They also managed trips to Singapore, Malaysia and

Cambodia, all within a couple of hours flying time. These foreigners know how to maximize sightseeing tours!)’

John writes ‘that the biggest change was the decision they took to move out of Bangkok; much as we like Bangkok, the traffic and crowds, coupled with the never-ending polluted air, was becoming unbearable. So we decided to move 200Kms south to Prachuapkirihan province, just outside of Hua Hin. ( I am sure everyone knows exactly where that is!) We’ve got a small house in a gated community in the countryside. Our traffic jams are limited to sometimes getting stuck behind the farmer when he is moving the cows across the road. We are only minutes from a large sandy beach, being south of the popular tourist town Hua Hin it’s pretty quiet, but we go there for the occasional meal or pub visit. We take advantage of the Tuk Tuk pick up from the house for about £7.50, more expensive than Bangkok, but just about affordable, even in these Brexit days, but I won’t start on that. (What a relief, we are unable to escape it!)’

Bob Duncan

John and Ice Ship

Please send Letters to: Roger Outram, 12 Grove Park, Magazine Lane, Wisbech, PE13 1LF

E-mail: roger@rsoutram.co.uk

Other contact: Telephone 01945 582624

Dear Readers

Sadly you are not taking the opportunity to write to me and I guess the fact that I am not well known to you is the reason. This section of the Newsletter has hitherto been the backbone of the publication alongside the many interesting and diverse articles written by you the members of the association. While the articles are really interesting and informative they don’t serve the purpose of the letters page which is to allow members to share anecdotal events and activities in their own lives.

We are in this association, I imagine, because of our desire to maintain some contact with those who have shared our experiences within a service that we have loved and among people, we have admired.

In an effort to bring our Association into the 21st century we have created a website that contains back copies of the Newsletter. We have separated out articles written by colleagues and filed by the author's name in a library of contributors hopefully with your help we can develop the website to include many things that interest us all. Some guidance from you the members would be greatly appreciated. The

website can be found at <www.rpga.org.uk>. You will need a password to enter the full site. All that is required to access a password is to be a member of the RPGA and have your e-mail address registered with Harry Brett or prove your credentials to me in some other way.

Back to the matter of the Letters page While I have not received any contribution at all my dear friend Bob Duncan continues to generate wonderful news from all his friends and colleagues, see above, and in spite of his retiring from the committee, we are fortunate indeed that he continues to be willing to share his news with us.