I wouldn’t say the day didn’t go to plan, but it could definitely have been better!
The main target was to visit Shepton Mallet prison. One of my vague historical interests is crime and punishment (too many Sherlock Holmes stories when I was younger) and I’ve been round a few smaller, older lock ups but there aren’t that many opportunities to see a more recently closed establishment. To be honest I found it interesting, but also sad and a little frightening. The history of the prison doesn’t entirely help, it was a civilian establishment from 1625 until 1930 when it closed. Just before WW II it became a military prison, first for the British services then for the Americans from 1942-1945. From then until 1966 it was back in British military hands, and for a while housed the Kray Twins. Commonly known as The Mallet it was reckoned to be the harshest of the four military detention centres (only Colchester is still open). Having reverted to being a civilian prison, in 2001 it became a Category C for male lifers until it closed in 2013.
The displays and information really don’t pull any punches, including the number of executions carried out there, which include two by firing squad and 16 hangings during the US occupation. I’ve read elsewhere that there was some disquiet in British circles about these due to the high number of coloured servicemen executed compared to whites.
Because the establishment only closed 10 or so years ago it’s still got all the security fencing, razor wire, secure gates and doors, etc. and the cell block wings are very similar to the ones you see in Porridge, complete with anti-suicide netting, but I have to say the thing I found the worst (even more so than the hanging room and the condemned cell) was the exercise yard. When the lifers were moved there this was improved, instead of just being a tarmac yard enclosed on all sides by buildings it became a tarmac yard with a couple of raised plant beds and a raised pond! Imagine that your only outside time, often just an hour a day, would be spent in such a place? At least it’s open to the sky, drones being used to drop drugs (and even on one occasion a Chinese takeaway) mean that many such yards are now closed over.
After a cup of coffee I went for a wander around Shepton Mallet, which is a fairly typical small market town. I was looking for a Boots, or similar, as I discovered I’d left my shampoo* at home and needed a couple of other things but failed to find one. I had thought about going into Wells for the afternoon but couldn’t get any enthusiasm so I looked on Google Maps and found a farm shop that looked a good place for lunch and a bit of shopping. After TomTom took me to the wrong place I finally found it and was somewhat underwhelmed. The lunch was ok, but nothing great, and the supposedly much vaunted farm shop butchery consisted of all prepackaged items, a packet of 16 bacon rashers isn’t much use in a small campervan on my own!
On the plus side though I spotted a Boots in an out of town retail park so got my shopping there then passing back around Wells I found a Halfords which gave me the chance to get a new phone holder - it’s been a problem for a while in the Berlingo; I’m not sure how well this one will work but we’ll see. The other place I’d planned to call in at was a Cider Barn by the side of the road near Cheddar. I pulled in, thinking I might get some decent scrumpy, but when I looked in it was basically a fairly grotty looking bar in, literally, a barn, so I didn’t bother.
*I used the shower gel this morning which works but it’s very, very minty!
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