Visitors allowed at infamous Peaky Blinders' gang prison
- By Web Desk -
- Nov 25, 2019
Authorities in United Kingdom (UK) has allowed visitors at a Victorian jailhouse where the real life Peaky Blinders gang was once locked.
The group, was infamous in early nineteenth century, for their street criminal activities and even though they had disappeared by the 1920s, their “Peaky Blinders” name became a slang synonym for any street gang in Birmingham.
The group also famed to shot after a five season BBC series depicted their activities. The authorities have now opened up the prison, which operated from 1891 to 2016, for public visits.
The fans, who once saw the group characters in a drama could now go through a first-hand experience of what group members used to do in the prison. The mug shots of Harry Fowler, Ernest Bayles, Stephen McHickie and Thomas Gilbert, wearing their trademark flat caps, even adorn the walls of the 128-year-old prison.
The visitors would be able to look inside the cells of the former custody suite, which was transformed into a museum in 2017.
The building also features stained glass windows, a tunnel through which criminals made the walk to court, art decor door handles and old-fashioned interview rooms.
Other West Midlands Police memorabilia includes the UK’s biggest mugshot collection and what is believed to be the oldest police custody photograph in the world.
Inspector Steve Rice, who works on the West Midlands Police Heritage Project told Tyla.com that only the Peaky Blinders group members but the prison housed many other notorious criminals.
He said that they would not be glorifying the acts of the criminals and would like to give people the facts about them.
Read More: Peaky Blinders season 5: Is Tommy Shelby dead?
“They are criminals at the end of the day. Our records have them down for offences like stealing but we know they moved into illegal practices involving horse racing and betting.”
The years-old prison building also has a tunnel used to transfer inmates from their cells to an inside-court to learn their fate.
“It’s quite chilling to think what would be going through their heads at they made this walk, sometimes to face the death sentence,” he added.