Some time ago I was asked to explain Prison Rule 46 (which regards Close Supervision Centres). I’d never lived on one as such (though I have passed through the one here whilst in segregation (which is part of the same unit) so I thought I’d research it properly before posting this response.
In my time, if I remember correctly, it was Section 4?a/b. The first was applied to those guilty of an offence against Prison Rules. The second was applied if the Governor thought the Con was a threat to *the good order of the Prison*. Obviously, the second could be even more arbitrary than the first. The conditions were medieval (or plain evil). I was informed by Mr Xmas ( I kid you not) that I was to be *broken mentally* not physically. Ordinarily, Mr Xmas was a fairly decent Officer but maybe he was just following orders.
You don’t mention the cold so, presumably, CSCs, the Block, Solitary or whatever are heated now? Only time I wore pyjamas (under my regular clothes) was during my time there. The daily Governor stopped me cleaning my pad three times a day stating that *We understand why you do it*. Eventually, I was granted a privilege-an A-Level Maths paper from my property. Happy days!
The Block and CSC units are indeed now heated…in theory. That is to say that there are facilities to heat them. However, each cell (here at Wakefield at least) can have their heating individually turned off and when I was last in the block in 2014 it was 10 days before I was given clothes that fit, a blanket, or any heating. Add to that the fact that the windows didn’t close properly and I was frozen.
I was once on remand in Prison X and, as there were no windows, I stuffed my blanket in the gap in an attempt to mitigate the freezing north wind. Soon, the door opened and my blanket was summarily confiscated and not replaced. Lesson learned!
At the minute, I have on a fleece, HH tech T-shirt, hiking trousers and two pairs of socks. I am in a cafe and when I leave I will put on my Goretex jacket and woollen Peruvian hat.
I have a 15tog duvet on my bed and I still get dressed to go to bed. The socks stay on with tracky top and Troll climbing trousers. I still have cupboard full of mountaineering clothes, sleeping bags and tents that I rarely use these days.
I have a fear of the cold and still have nasty dreams caused by rough sleeping in the terrible Winter of 1963-64. Whoever said that there is no bad weather only wrong clothing was right but I still prefer to be in front of a fire, nice and toasty and with a cup of tea. If I had someone next to me in bed, I might take my tracky top off. Brigid Bardot is supposed to have said that Englishmen (she meant Lawrence Harvey) make love with their socks on. She lives in the south of France, what does she know about surviving the cold!
Withholding heat (or imposing it) is used as a very effective weapon by some officers. The origin of the term ‘sweat box’ to refer to the secure vans prisoners are taken to and from court in whilst on trial comes in part from the fact that some screws like to turn the heat right up (especially on the day you are due to give evidence) in order to make you irritable. Conversely, if they want you to be lethargic they turn it right down. I was warned about this before going to court and made sure I was wearing warm clothes which would be easy to pull off even in handcuffs if I got too hot.