21 September

ALFRED - WEDNESDAY. 21ST. SEPTEMBER.

I have developed a cold, and my snoring and burbling chest noises have driven my companion to seek another cell. Having a cold in prison is rather like having one in a school; it quickly spreads to others. I will not be thanked if it does. During the morning, Angelo arrives. He is a tall young man, who shaves his head. He has a large bin bag full of his clothes and toiletries which makes me think he has been in prison for a little while. But he seems easy to get on with, and does not worry that I am a noisy sleeper.
During the morning Dev comes to me and slips three 'ticklers' into my hand. It is extremely kind of him. I do not think I have seen him smoking but he has several people who visit him during association and he is very hospitable.
This afternoon, my visitors are the Revd. John Hall. I first met him as the Assistant Curate at Towcester Parish Church, and succeeded me in my four former parishes. He is a young man with a wife and two young boys. With him comes David Cockshott, who was one of the Churchwardens at Maidford, and now has been licensed as a Lay Reader in the four Parishes. He is a retired civil servant, and he and his wife were exceedingly kindly and friendly. We used to have our Parochial Church Council Meetings in their home. And often we finished our meetings with a glass of wine. Very civilised! Maidford was one Parish that I never had to do any Church Fete organisation; it was all done by the villagers who always raised a good deal of money. The proceeds were always shared with either the little Methodist Chapel, or the Village Hall, or some Charity.
They came into the Visitors' Hall, and found their way to where I was sitting. They said that Derek had made them aware of all the security checks they would face. I reminisced with David and John, and chatted about the parishes and the people I had known. The funny thing is, the former vicar does not show his face again in those Parishes. It is just not done. When I retired I was obliged to move at least ten miles away. But I obtained permission from the Bishop of Brixworth to move to Towcester which is only five miles away. But I kept to the rule about keeping away, so it was interesting to know about the people there again. When I was the vicar, there was no way I could take four services in a morning, but I was fortunate that Maidford would have Morning Prayer on the Sundays I did not go to them. Both Churchwardens took the service without preaching a sermon. Now that David was a Lay Reader, he could give a sermon. He also helps John out in the other three parishes. But now John will be caring for five Parishes, I am sure David's help will be greatly appreciated. Our time was taken up with what I suppose you could call Parish gossip.
I am longing to see Una, as I have not seen her since Saturday, and am looking forward to seeing her tomorrow. I have been in Prison for half of my sentence, and it certainly has become boring, even though the inmates and staff are friendly and kind. The same routine; the same food; the same pool tables and table tennis table; and the same exercise yard; the same old TV soaps, one after the other. Such rubbish, with sometimes hammy acting and poor dialogue. But I see how comfortable it can come to just be lost in them.
Sometime tomorrow the canteen is delivered and I will be able to smoke my pipe. I have ordered Clan tobacco, which can also be smoked in 'ticklers', so I will be able to be generous to those who been so generous to me. But I must say I have smoked less since I have been here, so this may be a good time to reduce my smoking for the future.
Another person has befriended me is Pat. He is most noticeable in that he uses the F.... word very frequently. The last time I heard it used as much was during National Service. Pat was a very strong looking man, stocky, usually unshaven with a heavy dark beard, and he shaved his head and had a long scar on a cheek. He obviously was well used to Prison, and was here because he had been in brawl, but he had not yet been sentenced. He was Prison wise, like being streetwise in prison. He pushed the limits. But for all that we spent a great deal of time together when we could. He had a single cell which he enjoyed because he was considered dangerous. He too was generous to me, supplying me with paper and envelopes with first class stamps. He was working as a builder in his town, and knew he would get his job back when he finished his sentence, so he must have been good. He hated Christmas, and if possible he would get drunk on Christmas Eve, and sleep through Christmas Day to wake on Boxing Day. Christmas can be hell for those who lived alone. He told me that there were three charges against him. After I left Prison we continued to write to each other. Two of the charges were dropped and the first was reduced in severity because it was the other person who provoked him and had scarred his face. It must have a nasty brawl.
Angelo had made himself at home, with pictures of his family and girlfriend on the board. The trick was to stick the pictures up by using toothpaste. He had turned the lockers on their side, so that he could plug in his radio close to the electric point, and more light was let into the cell. I wonder how long he would be allowed to keep it that way. Having seen the TV soaps, the Bill and the news he turned in. I have a feeling he would unburden himself, but he was not too sure of me yet.



UNA - SEPTEMBER 21ST 2005

A manic amount of phone calls hit me all the morning. The reasons for this? It was a mixture of interest about Sylvia's visit yesterday and the reaction to the Government's backdown relating to the changed timing of their revaluation programme.

I shall set down the day's happenings in the order they occurred..

Tony and Isobel, members of our local protest group, wanted help to visit Alfred at the start of next week.

A warning phone call from the London Radio station, featuring Nick Ferrari, for an interview at 9.30 a.m., spurred me into a sharper state of mind.

Rebecca from the Trevor McDonald's Programme wanted background details leading up to our present state. I found doing this was long and tedious but the opportunity of working with this programme overrode my feelings.

The Bishop of Brixworth, the number two Diocesan Bishop, or Bishop Frank as he introduced himself, -made known his visit requirements for Saturday, September 24th. I took the details of his address which had to be given to the Prison when I booked his visit. In return I gave him Alfred's Prison number which is asked for by the reception staff at the Prison. Without knowing this it is hard to enter no matter who you are Perhaps this was why the Rural Dan failed to get in the second time he tried.
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Calls from the journalists of the Observer and Daily Express wanted my reaction to yesterday’s events.

Then I phoned John Hall who was visiting Alfred this afternoon to give him his Prison number which I had forgotten to do earlier.

When Christine called she was angry about a Welsh supporter who was acting in an unhelpful way to those worried about Council Tax bills in Wales doubling as a result of revaluation there. I was angry too at the continuing confusion that South Northants Council presented by making misleading statements about their role in wiping off our debt. So we were angry together.

By 12.30 p.m. after being stimulated by this busy morning, I felt exhausted. There had been a lot of sorting out achieved.

I had learned when talking to a Prison official when booking visits earlier that Alfred was likely to phone home at about 6.30 p.m. today. This was a welcome piece of news.

It was important to buy some daily papers and at the same time to buy some toothpaste for Joel. I noticed that the tube was in a very twisted state this morning which showed how empty it was. It's strange what comes into your head at times like these.

The Telegraph article written by Nick Britten reported clearly the Government's "climb down " over revaluation and coupled it with Sylvia Hardy's visit. A photograph showed her with Albert in the background, holding a placard while standing beneath a sign that read H.M.P. Woodhill.
A paragraph summed up their adventure: " People such as Miss Hardy and Mr Ridley are causing the Government a headache, with an increasingly organised campaign .......... Several small protest groups arguing against council tax rises, higher than inflation and pension increases have joined under the banner of the nationwide Isitfair campaign, which now claims 30,000 active members."

The Daily Mail displayed a framed inset of five quotes from Mr Blair, Mr Raynsford, Mr Milburn and Mr Miliband, all trying to justify the climb down. At the end of the article it brings South Northants Council into the picture showing their difficulties in coming to terms with the Council Tax Law. This ending was later explained to me by Christian who claimed that it was part of his article. He had rowed with his editor about this. His article might turn up later in the week, he said.

After my teaching session came Alfred's phone call. He told me how bored he was and that his cellmate had asked to be moved because of his snoring. Someone else other than me is being disturbed then! When Alfred is with me I sleep soundly and rarely hear his night noises.
It seems that Alfred and I are at extremes at the moment with him not having enough to do while I m having too much. I am clear which state I prefer.

With the text from Joel to say he would be home by about 9 p.m. I got going on the Word Processor to write a letter to Blair so that the room was free to Joel on his return. He was using his Dad's " office " while he was with us where the Word Processor is kept.
We enjoyed our meal together later, especially as Joel had plans for his future which he explained in his spirited way.
At 10.30 p.m. we wound up the day in our own rooms upstairs. He was pleased to explore the internet on his restored computer and I wrote up my Diary.
Three people were interested in our Diaries: Tom Hendry, Ross Slater a free lance journalist trying to interest the Review section of The Mail on Sunday, and Rebecca from the Trevor McDonald's Programme.
The pace of life is quickening, making it harder to keep control of all that is happening. I live with the help of lists; very essential at the moment.