Zweibrücken

Two visits today. The first was an energetic jog around the site to meet students wherever they were working; motor vehicle maintenance (always check they've not dragged my car in to strip it down!), the laundry, the gym, a newly organised OU study room, a few classrooms, a light industry workshop, the kitchens and the library. I've known some of the guys for a couple of years and one for far longer.

As an aside; "Light industry" isn't as exciting as it sounds. When you buy some pre-packed screws or nuts and bolts they might have been packed in a jail. It is tedious, mind-numbing work but it pays well (in prison terms) and for some of the folk it's as much as they can cope with. Contracts like this are gold-dust for prisons as they bring in money and soak up men (or women) who might otherwise be unemployed in the jail. It counts as "purposeful activity" but isn't likely to lead to people acquiring useful, usable skills which will lead to rehabilitation and reduce the risk of reoffending on release. That isn't a complaint - it's a difficult balance for the prison service; earning money and employing inmates is part of the challenge each jail faces.

Then a break so I headed to Sainsbury's for a sandwich and a bottle of orange juice and drove towards the second site. Because most jails still have lock-up from midday to 2pm I had an enforced lunch-break so I headed up to Sharpness to enjoy the views with my tuna and mayo. The weather was dreadful with torrential rain and the roads were flooded in places but it stopped long enough for me to jump out and take this shot. To the right of the tree you'll see the Severn bridges (hence the title).

Second site was very different from the first. I was doing a "round table" talking to young women with, in the main, short sentences. None have studied at this level before, all were young enough to be my children and most were younger than Jemma. Lots of talking over each other and me repeatedly asking them not to call me "sir" (everyone is sir or miss with this cohort). In many ways this is a harder group to work with because they can have unrealistic expectations of studying; "it's gonna be easy sit", or of the impact of having served a custodial sentence on their immediate job prospects.

Then out and into the car to head home. The weather didn't help but the music did. The CD player in my old car had died but now I can grab some sounds when the radio gets boring. The Doors "LA Woman" to chill out, "Born to run", the full album, for energy and then "Stairway to Heaven" on repeat and cranked up to 11 as I crawled through town.

I know it's a school night but my head is buzzing from the drive so I may risk a beer.