26 November 1998

Peter G. Bradbury
Wing 1A
HM Prison Woodhill
Tattenhoe Street
Milton Keynes MK4 4DA

Dear Bruce and Company,

I am writing this letter to you for three basic reasons. I hope you do not mind me writing direct to you, but my enthusiasm and interest was spurred by your visit to Woodhill yesterday for the Workout. I think it was obvious that it went very well and everyone here said they had a very enjoyable and entertaining time. The only criticism raised was that time flew by and we all wished the session could have been longer.

We also hope you all enjoyed your visit as much as we did. So really my first reason for writing is to thank you all for your time and energy which I, for one, know was not in the slightest bit wasted. Your love and knowledge of Shakespeare was there for all to see, and was appreciated. As you will probably realise the cultural level in here is not high, so any chance to see quality, let alone to join in, is for the best. I took the liberty of writing a verse in iambic pentameter to show how greatly I treasured the visit. I have enclosed a copy for you as I thought you might care to read it at one of your workouts in Camden if that would be possible.

My second reason for writing is that I work for most of the week on the prison magazine called Time-In. It is perhaps not of the highest quality and certainly there is no writing as good as Shakespeare’s included, but we do try to publish some poetry, articles and stories. I was hoping you would be kind enough to send me either some background information on the Company and the actors and actresses involved with it, or, failing that, perhaps some other leaflet or similar item to help us to do an article on your Company, if you would not think that too much of an intrusion.

Thirdly, I would like to confirm that I would be absolutely thrilled to come to Camden on Sunday, hopefully from my point of view either January 24^th or 31^st 1999, if that would be convenient for you all. Louise (Morell), Adele (Lynch) and Max (Bonamy) showed interest in the ‘Macbeth’ piece I did for the oral part of my GCSE English Exam that I took at Woodhill in June of this year. Although I cannot remember it word for word I am sure I can give a good account of it for you, should you think it possible. Part of the reason behind my love of Shakespeare is his use of poetry and rhyme and that has always been my first love in the English language.

But that is enough of that as I would not wish to bore you or to seem pushy. Some people in my wing have said that I am stupid to write to you in such a letter as this, but stupid or not, I just felt I had to. I am sending this letter to the Doddington Grove address as that was the only one which Julie Mills (then Education Chair for HMP Woodhill, now in charge of Education Programmes at HMP Woodhill, HMP The Mount and HMP Bullingdon) had. Therefore if I was able to visit Camden I would need you to send me the full address and also state a time when I should arrive.

Hopefully you will feel able to reply to me at the address shown at the top of this letter. Anything you write will not be used in the magazine unless you expressly authorise it. That prevents any problems for any of us arising from the article, Prison Service rules being what they are. I look forward to a speedy reply and you all the very best of health and wealth for the remainder of 1998 and next year.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all from all of us at HMP Woodhill.