Tammy and I had arranged to meet Pat Drake the councillor who is responsible for the running of this unique museum. We met Pat in the reception area of Brighton town hall which on top of the Police Museum and was a former magistrates court, when the police station first came into operation many years ago.
After introducing ourselves to Pat we all made our way down some steps meeting on the way an old fashioned police sign which really added atmosphere to the entrance!
We had now arrived in the sub basement which was previously used as a constable’s office area, along with a wash room next door. We must note this area is still being restored! We then made our way to the female cell block which is hung with lots of police batons from a bygone era in policing. Pat said this collection was the biggest in the world and we would not dispute this.
Some of the cells had some very interesting old items from local police divisions in Sussex right from the start, when the police act first came in, and night watchmen were employed. Pat, after giving us a tour of the female cells, then guided us to where the male’s cells were! As we entered there were iron bars at the entrance that would have stopped any would be absconder. The first cell we visited in the male cell block had a manikin in a bed, trying to recreate what it would have been like, to be put in one these cells back in the early days of policing. There were chains on the wall above, we can only begin to imagine what may have happened to any criminals who were caught, and temporarily held there until the courts had decided their fate.
We made our way along to the end of the cell block and the last four cells which were opposite a great oak table which Pat pointed out had been used during the second world war, when a German pilot was captured after his plane had crash, and how a local police constable had unknowingly fired a Lugar pistol, causing a bullet hole in the table. We both thought all the information given to us by Pat was fantastic. Pat showed us where all the light switches were and the great spindle of keys which we were going to use on the night of our upcoming investigation.
We eventually made our way back to the town hall reception area. Pat had agreed to let us meet the security people who would be on duty that night. We would also be allowed to investigate the council chambers on the upper floors and the east side of the building. We thanked Pat for her time in showing us this fantastic museum which I know SPI is now very eager to investigate in our upcoming investigation at the end of November.
