SIR,
The photograph published shows me and my parents, John Leslie and Catherine Ann Powell, standing in front of the main door. This photograph was taken in 1950, when I was a pupil at Priory Street School.
The door in question was massive, made of two-inches-thick oak covered with a plate of iron. A large lock was fitted, and the door also had two large three-feet-long bolts that slid into recesses in the internal walls.
Inside were two former cells, both fitted with the original security doors, complete with serving hatches. At the rear of this entrance hall was a stained glass window depicting the gaol as it was built in 1788.
In 1958, my family and I moved to a police house in Dixton Close, where we lived until my father's untimely death in 1960. My mother and I then moved to Drybridge Park in December of that year, and by that time I had left Monmouth School and was employed in the Monmouth Borough Council offices in St James Square.
I left Monmouth in early 1962, and joined the Hampshire Constabulary, where I was to serve for the next 30 years. I married Gillian Evans of Wyesham Road, Monmouth, in late 1962, and my family and I now live in Hampshire.
Looking back to my time in Monmouth, I enjoyed the experience and have fond memories of Monmouth Angling Club and Monmouth Rugby Club. I send my best wishes to former school friends and contacts, and hope to pay a visit to the town in the near future.
WJ Powell
(Romsey)