Lancaster

Up until March 2011, Lancaster Castle was a category C prison for male inmates, acting as a specialist rehabilitation facility for drug offenders. It was used for high security trials until 1972 as the prison and court were contained within the castle walls, and it was used to hold German POWs during World War I. Originally a Norman stronghold under William the Conquerors reign, the oldest parts of the castle still date back to the 12th century. It was the location of the notorious Pendle Witches trials in 1612, in which 10 people were executed for the use of witchcraft in murder. Witchcraft itself was not seen as heresy at the time, merely a felony, but its use in murder was punishable by death by hanging, and the Pendle trials contributed to more than 2% of all executions in Britain for witchcraft. It was also a major parliamentary stronghold during the civil war, resisting several royalist sieges.

Main gate to the castle

During the 17th and 18th century, trials were only held twice a year; if someone was arrested and remanded in April, they would have to wait until August for their hearing, guilty or not. Even if they were eventually found innocent, they could not leave the gaol until they had paid their debt to the gaoler; he was not paid for his service by the state and made his living from this perverted kind of rent. The cell conditions at this time were horrendous, with up to 8 people occupying an 8x10' cell. 'Gaol Fever', now known as typhus, was an epidemic among inmates, spread by lice. Apparently, the inmates clothes used to writhe, they were so infested.

Lancaster became known as the 'Hanging Town' as the court in the castle sentenced more people to death than any other in the country outside the Old Bailey. In its busiest heyday, trials lasted 10-15 minutes to keep up with the number of defendants, ensuring fair trials were rarely conducted. If they were lucky enough to avoid execution, they were transported to the Americas and, after the American War of Independence, to Australia in their thousands.

The monument

After my life-affirming trip there, I walked up to Williamson Park, where the Ashton Memorial is. It was overcast, but because the cloud was thin, it was surprisingly and pleasantly warm. It wasn't so pleasant after the two mile hike up hill, especially with full rucksack on back. I'm not sure exactly how much my bag weighs, but I would hazard a guess at around a million stone.

Built at the start of the 20th century by Baron Ashton in memory of his dead wife (second wife, mind), the memorial gives fantastic views over Lancaster, Morecambe and Morceambe bay. Once I'd gotten to the top, the clouds started to break up and I experienced the best weather I thought I'd seen in an age, but actually only three days. Sunglasses back on, mofos.

Lancaster, Morecambe and Morecambe Bay

Lancaster is clearly a town that hasn't benefited from any sustained tourism. Architecturally like many great towns I've seen on my trip, it's unfortunately stifled by an aura of deprivation and unemployment, with either cheap, classless or simply empty storefronts that remind me so much of Slough. It's also the inebriated waifs, tarted-up Sunday drinkers and the overly-vocal disregard of Monday morning that evokes the ambitionless principal of a town that just doesn't give a shit.  All this is just what I've perceived in the the few hours since I've arrived here however, and it could be a much more vibrant town than I'm giving it credit for. We'll see.