The mystery is, of course, why is the stream dry further down? I think it's because it runs through a patch where there is turf and mud, so it either gets absorbed or goes underground somewhere.
Anyway, today it rained a bit. Not nearly enough to do any good fo course, but enough to encourage us to seek indoor entertainment so we went to prison. I'm no stranger to prison of course because I have been inside on numerous occasions, but only in a professional capacity. I've even been inside Dartmoor, although as most people know that's a hospital not a prison, even if the man ( nurse) who showed me round did look and dress like Mr Mackay from Porridge.
So today it was Shrewsbury Prison, no longer in active service but open for guided tours.
It is truly a grim place and far more oppressive than others I have seen. It was only closed in 2013, not that long ago at all. The tour you get is very thorough (ours took two hours) and you get lots of stories of Victorian era cruelty by the staff and more modern day brutality among the inmates. They do lots of tours for school parties and believe you me, the sights and stories you experience are enough to scare any youngster away from crime. Worst of all is the visit to the execution room where a number of people have been hanged. The rope is still there and you can peer down into the 'drop room'. Strangely I was more deeply affected by a visit to the little room where the hangman would sleep on the night before an execution.
So there it folks, a pretty dark experience, but a real education and a total rebuttal of the notion that prison is 'soft' in the 21st century. The prison officers may be interested in reform but the prisoners are very often brutal to each other.
I think the sun is due to shine tomorrow.
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