a coach-load of 40 lucky members of The Bromsgrove Society were escorted round the extensive gardens and grounds of Hewell Grange, once the home of the Earl and Countess of Plymouth.

Hewell Grange was built between 1891 and 1894 and was the last of the grand country houses built in the reign of Queen Victoria.

It was opened to the public for one day in 1994 when several thousand people visited the house and gardens, but the governor refused to repeat the open day due to the problem of moving the prisoners and of coping with the traffic. The grounds cover some 140 acres and were acquired by HM Prison Service in 1946, for use as a borstal. One of the society's members remembers playing a football match against the borstal boys, with guards armed with rifles surrounding the pitch.

This year the visitors were guided by Mike Pengelly, the estate manager through the grounds. They arrived at the fountain court at dusk to find lights in all the windows on the garden frontage looking, as someone said 'magical, like fairyland'. It was not difficult to envisage the scene in the heyday of Hewell Grange 100 years ago.

The society is working with the Hewell Grange Conservation Trust to secure Heritage Lottery funding for restoration work. Meanwhile those detained there not only look after the grass-cutting and hedge cutting, but also grow fruit and vegetables which are sold to the public from the walled garden off the Redditch-Bromsgrove road.