The London-based hiking group for people in their 20s - 30s.
Cheryl B.
One of the largest prisons in the UK is found in a pleasant residential area of Wandsworth, just a stone’s throw from Wandsworth Common and opposite a garden centre. HMP Wandsworth has housed inmates since 1851. By 1878 it was known as London’s Hanging Prison and between then and 1961, 135 executions were carried out. In the 1800s it was known for squalid conditions and harsh treatment of inmates, today its reputation has not improved, an inspection last year found the prison to be unsafe with high levels of violence and drug taking. Ronnie Biggs of the Great Train Robbery escaped from Wandsworth in 1965, the most recent escape was in 2023. The 2024 inspection found basic security was lacking and there was “an inability to account for prisoners during the working day”…. Good thing we will be walking past in the evening then!
For those arriving by train at Clapham Junction, if you have time before the walk, head to platform 10 to see the plaque dedicated to Oscar Wilde. Whilst being transferred from Wandsworth Prison to Reading Gaol in 1895, Wilde was made to stand handcuffed and in convict dress on this platform and was subjected to homophobic abuse from the gathering crowd.
Optional pub at the end of the walk for a drink and a chat where everyone is welcome to join.
Clapham Junction Station (zone 2), the meeting point is the Brighton Yard exit, exit via the foot bridge (not the tunnel) by platform 17
Wandsworth Town Station (zone 2)
