3 Ticks in one day, on a roll so off to The Clink. Nothing to do with Colonel "I know nothing" Klink he of Hogan's Heroes fame. The term "The Clink" has become slang for a prison cell and resulting in the expression, "to be thrown in The Clink." Well this comes from the notorious Clink Prison in Southwark, London.
Dating back to 1144 and operating until 1780, it was possibly the oldest men's prison and probably the oldest women's prison in England. Who knows if the name "The Clink" came from the noise made as the prison doors were bolted, or the rattling of the chains the prisoners wore.
The Clink Prison Museum now stands on the original site and is billed as a "hands-on educational experience". That is if by hands on you mean playing around with a variety of torture devices and reading of tales of some of the unfortunate inmates who found themselves here. With the lyrics "Who taught you to torture? Who taught ya?" (Whip in my Valise - Adam and the Ants) running through my head, I had a wander around and some of the methods used to torture inmates were certainly very creative. And I'm sure painful. It was gruesome but fascinating at the same time. Weirdly, it's highly rated as popular with kids.
This wasn't a free tick - entry cost £8, but not too bad considering my 2 earlier ticks of the day were freebies.
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