Craiginches Read online

  First published 2017

  by Black & White Publishing Ltd

  29 Ocean Drive, Edinburgh EH6 6JL

  www.blackandwhitepublishing.com

  This electronic edition published in 2017

  ISBN: 978 1 78530 128 5 in EPub format

  ISBN: 978 1 78530 121 6 in hardback format

  Copyright © Bryan Glennie and Scott Burns 2017

  The right of Bryan Glennie and Scott Burns to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Ebook compilation by Iolaire, Newtonmore

  Contents

  Title

  Foreword by Sir Alex Ferguson

  Introduction from Bryan Glennie

  Acknowledgements from co-author Scott Burns

  1. Craiginches Is Born

  2. Postal Strike Sends Me to Jail

  3. The Changing Face of Craiginches

  Death Row

  4. The Last Hanging in Scotland

  5. Suicide Watch and Death

  A Hall – The Prison Wing

  6. A Day in Craiginches

  7. Rooftop Protest Leaves the Ears of Torry’s Residents Ringing

  8. A Not-So-Great Escape

  9. Who Said Drugs and Money Don’t Grow on Trees?

  10. The Unofficial Craiginches Beer Garden

  Special Assignments

  11. From Riot Control to Flying Toilets

  12. The SAS Dares and Wins

  Aberdeen FC

  13. We’re Not on the March with Ally’s Army!

  14. Helping the Dandy Dons to Net Glory

  15. Fergie Tells Us We Will Beat Real Madrid

  The Social Wing

  16. Prison Fights

  17. That’s Entertainment

  18. Songbirds and Jailbirds

  19. Robbie Shepherd, Haggis and Prisoners with Knives

  20. Get that Rangers Fan Behind Bars!

  21. The Whistleblowers

  Who Said Crime Doesn’t Pay?

  22. Outpost for the Outlaws

  23. Life’s a Beach in Balmedie

  24. Down on the Boardwalk

  25. There Has Been a Robbery

  26. Woodend Hospital

  27. Aberdeen Royal Infirmary Bowled Over by Craiginches

  28. Impact of Such Projects

  The Charitable Wing

  29. Dedicated to Our Douglas

  30. Craiginches Shows Its Heart

  31. Good Causes

  Award Winners

  32. The Butler Trust

  33. The Royal Rowies

  34. The Craiginches Award Winners

  35. Representing Craiginches and Scotland

  Centenary Celebrations

  36. The Centenary

  37. Black Maria

  38. Centenary Beneficiaries

  39. The Royal Seal of Approval

  The End

  40. My Retirement

  41. Craiginches No More

  42. Reunion

  43. A Little Bit About Me

  Foreword by Sir Alex Ferguson

  It was my privilege to know Bryan Glennie when I was manager at Aberdeen Football Club. We had a very close friendship and I spent a lot of time with his family.

  At that time Bryan was working at the Craiginches Prison. His was one of the most intense experiences one can imagine. When listening to some of the events told by Bryan in graphic detail it made me wonder how the wardens got through each day.

  As Bryan says himself, it is a life’s education. Having to treat everyone differently, as their personalities could be miles apart, was a challenge that he thrived on.

  I will always remember our trips to the Cup Finals at Hampden Park when Bryan and his family would come to my mother-in-law’s house for their lunch before descending on the national stadium, which was only a couple of miles away.

  On reading this book I think the reader will see a very interesting experience of life in an institution where all the officers have to be diligent, smart and aware of just how precarious the situation is in that profession. I think we owe Bryan and his colleagues a debt of thanks.

  Sir Alex Ferguson, CBE

  Introduction

  I would like to thank you very much for taking the time to pick up my book.

  My name is Bryan Edwin Glennie and I was a prison officer with the Scottish Prison Service for twenty-four years. The majority of my time was served at Her Majesty’s Prison Aberdeen, or Craiginches as it was more commonly known in the North-east. HMP Aberdeen served the Granite City for 123 years before the gates were closed and locked for the final time in 2014. The prison has since been demolished and Craiginches is now nothing more than a not-so-distant memory.

  HMP Aberdeen may have gone but for me, and so many others who worked there, it will never be forgotten. It was much more than a holding facility for prisoners. There was too much achieved inside and outside of those prison walls to simply be discarded or condemned to the vaults of Scotland’s prison history. That was the main reason I decided to write this book.

  My time at Craiginches was influential in my life, not just through my primary role as a prison officer but also through all the work, projects and monies the prison and the Community Links Committee raised for a string of good causes across the North-east of Scotland.

  All the staff went out with the simple aim of trying to raise the profile of Craiginches to the highest level possible and to make the prison the best it could be. So much so that our work led the Scottish Prison Service’s former deputy director, Mr Alan Walker, to call it the ‘jewel in the crown of the SPS’. I would also hope that most of the prisoners took something positive out of their time at Craiginches. Okay, it won’t go down as the best period in their lives but it was our aim that they would leave with tools and skills for a positive future.

  Many of the inmates got involved in some worthwhile projects and gave a lot back to the local communities. Much of that is never seen and all the prisoners should be commended for their part in Craiginches’ success. As with most things at Craiginches, it was a real team effort. So if anyone was to say crime didn’t pay around Craiginches then I would point to what we did at HMP Aberdeen and strongly disagree.

  I enjoyed just about every minute of my twenty-four years at Craiginches. Every day was an adventure and more often than not my work gave me a real sense of achievement. It is a time I look back on with great pride.

  That is why I would like to dedicate this book to all the staff, prisoners and volunteers who worked hard to make sure HMP Aberdeen will be remembered for all the right reasons. I would have been unable to complete it and make it a factual story without the help of all the individuals named and pictured in the book. I did my best to make contact with as many people as possible but it proved a very difficult task and if I have failed to get in touch with anyone named in the book then I do apologise.

  I would also like to thank my co-author Scott Burns for his vision in persuading me to put my thoughts and memories down into words and also for all the work he did in getting my book into print.

  I would like to say a big thank you to Sir Alex Ferguson. He has been a good friend for many years and I would just like to thank the great man for agreeing to take time out of his busy schedule to do the foreword.

  I would also like to show my appreciation to Black & White Publishing for having the faith to take my story and to make my book r
eality. They have produced a top quality book and been a big help every step of the way.

  I have to say thank you to my good friend and lawyer George Mathers for his assistance and getting the book signed off, and to the Scottish Prison Service for granting their approval.

  I would just like to finish off by saying that I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I did writing it and I hope you, like myself, can look back on HMP Aberdeen and everything that was done and achieved there with great pride.

  Bryan Glennie

  Acknowledgements from co-author Scott Burns

  I came to know Bryan Glennie as two of his grandchildren went to primary school, Fishermoss in Portlethen, with my oldest son, Ross. Through their seven years there I got to know Bryan and the Glennie family quite well.

  On those early mornings we would initially exchange a quick wave or a hello but as the years progressed we would stop and have a quick chat about what was going on.

  Bryan always had a wee story and a lot of these would come from his time as a prison officer at Craiginches.

  More and more stories came to the fore and I thought to myself, Bryan has lived some life and must have a really good tales to tell.

  I did often think to myself why doesn’t Bryan consider writing a book?

  I ran the idea past Bryan and we agreed to sit down one morning – after the school run, obviously – to have a discussion about a book and what stories he had to tell.

  I sat with Bryan for a couple of hours as he rolled off a string of tales sprinkled with more than a fair share of big names thrown in for good measure.

  I was in no doubt that Bryan’s story had a book in it. I was more than happy to help him and give him a few hints and tips and a bit of guidance along the way.

  Bryan then asked me if I would write the book for him. I had to think long and hard about that as Mrs Burns had already said I had too much on my plate.

  Then I thought if I don’t write it then Bryan’s story may never find its way into print and that would have been a travesty in itself.

  The biggest thing was trying to find time in my diary, and then when I did, trying to get Bryan in.

  In typical Bryan style he would be out for his daily walk, keeping fit, or helping others, doing things like bowling coaching or the cycling proficiency at Fishermoss Primary School.

  He may have retired but he is probably still as busy as ever and if he is not doing things with his family then he is helping others. That is the sort of person he is.

  Bryan, you really are one of a kind and I hope my words can do your story justice.

  I would also like to say thank you to Black & White Publishing for putting another book I have been involved with into print.

  Also thank you to my wife, Amanda, and the boys, Ross and Aaron. I might have some time to see you now!

  Scott Burns

  PS: Thank you for the golf balls, Bryan. I think half of them are mine anyway from my wayward tee shots from the tenth hole at Portlethen Golf Club.

  1

  Craiginches Is Born

  The first known ‘official’ prison in Aberdeen dates back to 1394, when the Tolbooth Prison and Courthouse were sanctioned and proposed for the city’s Castle Street.

  It was claimed at the time of its building that it was more of a holding facility than a prison. Prisoners were held there until their fate was decided – which could be anything from imprisonment, if they were lucky, to slow torture or death in more extreme circumstances. It could certainly be classed as barbaric.

  Not surprisingly, tales from the Tolbooth were enough to strike fear into the hearts of the majority of Aberdonians and natives of the north-east of Scotland, although, as always, there were others who, no matter what, couldn’t keep themselves on the right side of the law.

  The Tolbooth was stated as the only penal institution in Aberdeen until around 1636 when the House of Correction was built and came into operation.

  It pretty much did what it said on the tin – a house of correction, trying to reform characters and to get them back on the right side of the law. It was the first of its kind in Scotland and was the brainwave of the City Provost, Alexander Jaffray, who had taken office just twelve months earlier.

  He had made it one of his main aims to try and clean up Aberdeen city centre by removing from the streets vagabonds, beggars, stray children, delinquents and others, who today would be classed as undesirable. The House of Correction was run in line with the beliefs of the Church. It aimed to get individuals back on the straight and narrow and to get them living their lives the right way. The House provided lodgings and food in exchange for work in the clothing and textile industry. It certainly gave people hope and the opportunity to escape from an otherwise sad existence. The House of Correction continued to play its part and it was certainly a far different proposition from the Tolbooth, which catered for the more hardened of criminals.

  Aberdeen was nicknamed the Granite City for the number of houses, offices and apartments that were constructed out of the clean, grey and imposing stone. It could also have been used to describe the growing underbelly of crime in Aberdeen during those early years and it quickly became clear that times were a changing and there was a need for another prison to compliment the Tolbooth.

  The Bridewell Prison, or West Prison, as it was also known, was built to meet that particular demand. It was located at the north end of the city centre in Rose Street. It served as the city’s second prison and took some of the strain off the Tolbooth, which was bursting at the seams – so much so that there was a need for the Tolbooth itself, to eventually be replaced and upgraded.

  A new Tolbooth facility was built in 1819 behind the original building. It was no less forgiving and in time eventually became known as the East Prison, due to its location at the heart of Aberdeen’s city centre.

  The new Tolbooth remained as the main prison for more than half a century before it was confirmed in the late 1870s that it had served its time and Aberdeen was to get a new prison.

  The authorities were basically left with no option and were pushed into the move to replace the rather dated and inadequate East and Bridewell Prisons. There were particular concerns over the East Prison, which failed its final inspection set out by the 1877 Prison Act. The East Prison was basically condemned, which was a fair achievement as the standards back then weren’t as high as they are today. The problem was that it couldn’t be put out of commission until an alternative had been found and built!

  There was also limited land within the city of Aberdeen so the authorities had to widen their horizons and look outwith the city for a suitable solution. It still needed to be somewhere close enough to the city centre courts and jails to allow the prisoners to be easily and safely transported to and from the new facility.

  Her Majesty’s Prison commissioners considered several options in and around the city before they settled on a site in nearby Torry, adjacent to the Wellington Bridge.

  Torry, a former Royal Burgh, is famed for housing the families of fishermen in and around the north-east port. It officially became part of Aberdeen when the boundaries were pushed across the River Dee to satisfy the increasing population.

  The 10-acre site pinpointed by the HM Prison commissioners belonged to the Aberdeen Land Association. They were prepared to sell if the price was right. A deal was quickly struck and the news made local headlines. The Aberdeen Journal newspaper, on 13th September 1889, greeted the story with the heading: ‘New prison for Aberdeen’.

  The same article also explained why the new facility was so desperately needed due to the fact that the East Prison had fallen into such disrepair.

  It read: ‘The need for a new prison has, as is pretty wellknown, long since been recognised. In many respects the present structure is wholly inadequate for the necessity of a large district with which it is connected, not only from the point of accommodation but also in terms of the sanitary and other basic requirements.’The initial costs for the Torry-base
d prison were budgeted at around £20,000 – a massive sum at that time. The new Aberdeen prison quickly began to rise out of the Torry skyline as it took shape. It was visible from Aberdeen’s city centre, as it stood on the south side of the River Dee, a giant bastion and deterrent against the criminal underbelly.

  The Aberdeen Journal wrote: ‘The existing prison in Lodge Walk is hid in a corner, as it were, while the new jail is set on a hill as a warning to evil doers.’ It added: ‘The old prison was a prison but the new prison is a palace. It is hoped that with its perfect sanitation and its adaptability to modern requirements, it will be even more powerful than the old institution in deterring from crime and in reclaiming criminals.’

  The progress and build of the prison was quick and the Aberdeen Journal continued to keep the North-east public up to speed with its rapid progress.

  It stated: ‘Her Majesty’s Prison at Craiginches is nearing completion, standing as it does on an eminence overlooking the silvery Dee, it is an imposing and pleasing feature in the landscape, though its presence must serve as a reminder that the criminal classes are still with us.

  ‘The plans were prepared under the supervision of Her Majesty’s Commissioner for Prisons in Scotland and under the personal direction of Colonel McHardy. He has a great experience in building such institutions and all the best modern improvements have been introduced to ensure the new prison will be an ideal edifice.

  ‘The total cost will be around £20,000. The sole contract was placed in the hands of Messers D. McAndrew and Co. in September 1889 and is expected to be completed by 31st May 1891. Progress has already been made and fully warrants the expectation that it will be completed easily within that timescale.

  ‘It is hoped the genial Governor Mr Rutledge, who has for many years managed the old prison so admirably, will be spared to preside over the destinies of the newer and much more conveniently arranged prison.’The Aberdeen Journal got its wish as Mr Routledge was put in charge when ‘Craiginches’ or HMP Aberdeen, finally opened its giant wooden gates for the first time at the start of the 1890s, at a slightly more inflated cost of £36,000. Craiginches came just two years after a similar and slightly larger prison had been opened further up the north-east coast in the fishing town of Peterhead, or the ‘Blue Toon’ as it is more affectionately nicknamed.