Waiting II

I'm standing outside the visitors reception centre. We've been waiting for an hour, arriving long before the door will be opened, but that's the protocol.

The high green gate to my left shudders as a smaller gate set into it is opened. The officer walks to the front of the line and opens the door.

We're fifth in line - this is good. It means we'll be taken across to the prison in the first group, meaning we will get the full two hours of the visit. There's a rough depreciation - first group - no time lost, second group - 15 minutes lost, third group, 30 minutes lost and so on.

We follow the officer through the door and join the second queue. There isn't enough space, so everyone is crushed against a stranger. We get to the little window, hand in the Visiting Order and proceed to show our I.D. We are nodded on to wait in the holding area and use the lockers and toilets.

To pass the time while we wait to join the third queue, I begin to count the notices on the wall. I loose track at 44. A lot of them are addressed to prisoners - given that no-one serving will ever step in here, it seems that the dire warnings are just there to fill space.

It's coming up to 1pm, so we put bags, coats, hats, phones and so on into the locker. We are allowed to enter the prison only in indoor clothers and shoes, carrying only £5 in silver and the key to the locker.

The names of eight prisoners are shouted and there's a shuffle as people in different parts of the room stand, collect their kids. Then we all wait to join the next line.