Pierrepoint – Airfield used??

I have studied capital punishment for many years, and Albert Pierrrepoint stands out as an extremely professional and humane man. If you were scheduled to hang at 0700hrs then you were at the end of the rope dead by the time the clock bell stopped chiming 7.

I remember Pierrepoint being unsettled and discomforted by having to work with the U.S. in executing Nazi war criminals, as the Americans insisted on a lengthy reading of the death warrant, the long walk to the gallows, the last words, etc. To him this smacked of an unnecessary slow torture, and in complete opposition to the way he worked.

A modest and sympathetic man in a situation where those qualities were quite possibly a liability.

P.S. I can think of one or two walks of life that would benefit from a ‘suspended sentence’…property developers and greedy politicians working hand-in-hand to destroy as much heritage as they can before they retire.

Personally I would to string up a few individuals who have allowed aircraft to be scrapped and aerodromes to be demolished. The list of crimes and misdemeanours is long and someone has to pay. Sad thing is the list of criminals is getting longer. We don’t learn.

You all must read the book he wrote before he died, very interesting read and comforting to know that despite his morbid profession he tried to bring some dignity and compassion into his work. At the end of hanging hundreds of people he concludes that hanging achieves nothing other than vengence. I am against the death penalty but this makes an interesting read, most of the secrets of the last minutes of the condemed have been taken with him to his grave, a true professional gentleman (despite me being against what he did) The death penalty serves nothing, we should now put the prisoners to good use and get some aircraft restored (tongue in cheek)

I was offered FREE cinema tickets to watch the film, but thought it would be too sick. That said, I watched it last night and thought it an interesting film. I remember my teacher explaining the death penalty to us kids in third year junior school (around 32 years ago). Since that “chat” I’ve been anti death penalty.

That said, hanging people in a hangar…

Brilliant film ! Did not think it would be up my street but i never left the chair throughout.

North Weild

Looks like North Weald?? I don’t think it was this one…..

Thanks Pete…
Does anyone know the name of this web-site??

maybe this one
http://www.locationworks.com/library/cat/89/87/01.html

martin

Thanks Pete…

Does anyone know the name of this web-site??

Do a search on here, I published it a while ago, it’s a company that specialises in location sites for the discerning film maker, covering everything from ruined mansions to industrial sites.

West Raynham??

Thanks Pete…

Does anyone know the name of this web-site??

Hi everyone, was watching Pierrepoint last night and the filiming was done on an old airfield. Does anyone know which one this was???

Pierrepoint is a biographical drama starring Timothy Spall as executioner Albert Pierrepoint, who was widely renowned as the quickest and most humane hangman in the country during the 1930s and 1940s. But his reputation as an effective yet sympathetic executioner takes a downward turn when he is sent to Germany to execute Nazi war criminals, where the sheer volume of executions strips away the dignity of those condemned.

Thanks,

Phil.

I think I mentioned this before, I’m almost certain it was West Raynham, Norfolk. There’s a web site featuring filming locations and you can see the patch on the floor where I reckon the gallows was situated.