Kevin Pettifer - The Warden

From his Great Endeavour experience, Kevin saw that most of the lads who were detained had no interest at all in learning anything. And so, in the new school he limited formal class-room instructions to what used to be known as the three Rs: reading, writing and arithmetic, all of which were administered to a basically uninterested group of youths in relatively small doses. Then for the rest of the time, the inmates were kept busy running the school. On a rotating basis they all had a hand in doing everything under supervision of muscular young guards each of whom carried a rattan cane at all times and had no compunction in swiping the backside of anyone whom they thought was slacking or making mischief. So, cleaning, cooking, gardening, laundry and so on, were all undertaken by the lads themselves. Additionally they were each made to learn a trade of their choice. Kevin set up tuition in joinery, plumbing, electrical work, brick laying and plastering in the hope that on their discharge the inmates would at least feel that they had a potential means of earning an honest living.

The school premises needed little or no modification for to be suitable for their new inmates. But the question of discipline and corporal punishment were upmost in Kevin's mind as he organised the new school. The changing rooms and showers were adjacent to the school's gym. So a spacious used room nearby was designated as the correction room where all corporal punishment, other than those he personally dispensed in his office, would be administered. He installed a professionally built, adjustable beating stool over which delinquent lads meriting punishment could be stretched, strapped down arse-naked and correctly beaten. Lads destined for punishment, which was always administered in the evening straight after supper, were first made to take a shower after which they put on a pair of cotton shorts and were escorted under guard to the corridor outside the punishment room where they waited to be called in to meet their fate.

In a way it was almost giving the lads a taste of what happened in many English public schools, where boys were made to wait nervously outside their Headmaster's study, often wearing only their gym strips, to be called into face a beating on the bare. It is a psychologically very frightening and unnerving experience for those waiting to be beaten, as tension builds up, leaving them wondering what it will be like in a few minutes when they themselves are stretched across the stool waiting for the rod to bite into the bare skin of their own arses. And once the first lad is in there, and the crack of the rod mating with his bare flesh can be heard through the door, accompanied by the almost inevitable shrieks of pain which such treatments usually evoke, even old hands at the game, begin to tremble with fear. And well they might, for beatings at reform schools, of which Moulton- Midmarsh was to be no exception, are usually much more ferocious than those normally inflicted by a public school headmaster on errant pubic school boys. The rattan cane descends on its objective with that frightening and inimitable swish, before mating viciously and without pity with the bare buttocks of the punishee stretched helplessly across the beating stool; and as stroke follows stroke, the subject's buns become covered with that close-knit series of deep welts some of which will probably ooze a little blood, where the cane has broken the skin.

Kevin Pettifer had decided that as Warden he would hand over to Stephen Shaw, whom he had appointed as Senior Warder and Chief Disciplinarian, all the regular punishment schedule where the inmates were beaten for misdemeanours committed during their internment. Stephen who had, for the past four years, been Kevin's right-hand man at all punishment sessions aboard the Great Endeavour, was delighted to be offered this key post for he was as convinced as Kevin on the beneficial effects of the cane on the naked arses of recalcitrant internees. Enthusiastic though he was, he had had no previous experience of wielding the cane himself and felt somewhat nervous at the heavy responsibility which Kevin had laid upon him. But Kevin assured his subordinate and long-term lover, that everything would be OK and that he would have no difficulty at all in applying hard corporal punishment to the naked arses of offenders. Kevin had, however, decided that he would personally still administer all beatings and birchings of new arrivals which had been ordered by the courts and which were increasingly an integral part of the sentence imposed on newly convicted miscreants who were sent to the school.

It has to be remembered that many of these young men were vicious young tearaways: aged but sixteen or seventeen, and already young hardened criminals, they had no compunction in inflicting bodily harm on unsuspecting members of the public. Brain May, was a case in point. With the general reintroduction and acceptance of corporal punishment by the vast majority of the public after the UK had left the European Union, the courts had taken to handing down draconian sentences to young offenders. I was not uncommon for a new arrival at a reform school, such as Moulton-Midmarsh, to find himself not only confined there for two years, but also to arrive with a judicial schedule of mandatory beatings – usually birchings – to his name. Typically a lad aged sixteen or seventeen who had assaulted a member of the public, might find himself facing four or even six birchings during his imprisonment, all of which as ordered by the court had, by law, to be administered after his arrival at the school. Such beating baggage, as it came to be known, was independent of the internee's behaviour at the school where he was subject to all the strictures and rules which if he broke would lead to another very painful beaten arse. It was just such cases as this that Kevin Pettifer reserved for himself. For a new entrant, there was something quite frighteningly judicial to be faced, more or less on his first day, with a beating from the Warden himself.

CHAPTER 4

As Moulton-Midmarsh was a new school, Kevin had to ensure that the necessary instruments of punishment were to hand. The Department of Juvenile Corrections had designated several school furnishers as suppliers of all requisites and so it was to the catalogues of one such supplier; Universal School Supplies Ltd., that Kevin addressed himself to select the necessary punishment equipment: a sine qua non for a place like Moulton- Midmarsh. The government of the day which had passed the laws reinstating corporal punishment in schools had left the matter very loose. The only restriction was that the number of strokes could not exceed twenty-four on any one occasion and the whip in all its many forms was forbidden. Even that had proved a contentious issue in parliament, as the Scots had insisted that they be allowed to reintroduce the taws, their traditional implement of corporal punishment, which being made of leather was maintained by some observers to be tantamount to a whip. But schools were more or less free to equip themselves with the punishment instruments of their choice; which is what Kevin Pettifer did with considerable relish.

You might think that a cane is a cane other than the diameter of the rod from which is made; however, you would be so wrong. That a simple rod used to thrash boys' or young men's arses could have given rise to such a plethora of implements defies the imagination; but given rise it had and the choice was vast. First there was the source of the raw material from which the canes were made: the rattan vine. This is a tropical plant of which the best is considered to be the Indonesian Malaccan rattan vine. But whatever the source, rattan is generally agreed to be the best material from which to make punishment canes. Some canes which are superficially identical to others are cheaper as they are made from what is considered to be an inferior grade of rattan. Frankly, when either of them lands the arse of the unfortunate lad being beaten, I doubt that he would notice the difference. But remember we are in the year 2031 and everything is branded and marketed to death. Punishment canes have not yet appeared on TV advertising but someday soon they probably will, as purveyors try to extend their acceptance into the home, inciting fathers to discipline their sons. Can't you just see it in a TV advert?

Your son is unruly – you can no longer control him. Why not try a dose of a good old-fashioned, professional rattan-cane across his bare bottom? Experience has shown that a good bare-bottom beating is worth a thousand words. Take advantage of our introductory reduced price offer: 50% discount off the recommended retail price. Choose now from our large selection of professionally-made, traditional, straight-handled, rattan punishment-canes. For full details of this introductory offer and a complete list of canes available, visit our web site: rattanforyou.com

Offer must end December 31st.

But at the end of the day, what makes rattan the best material for punishment canes is that it is denser than bamboo, has a solid structure which splits less after repeated usage and has both the necessary rigidity combined with the flexibility, which when it lands with force on its target, allows it to marry with the anatomy of the individual benefitting from the experience. Other than the density of the original rattan material from which the cane is made, only two factors are important: the calibre or diameter of the cane itself and its length. The rattan cane can be made in diameters ranging from 4 to 12.5 mms and good suppliers offer a range of canes in 1mm increments between those sizes.

Some perfectionist's in the art of arse-beating keep a full selection of canes, rising in 1 mm increments. Such devotees of the cane claim that they can choose the perfect implement to suit the anatomy being addressed thereby ensuring the addressee has the benefit of a perfect beating.(One does have to wonder though; perfect from whose standpoint: the beater or the beaten?) Cane calibres above 12.5 mm are considered by most practitioners of the (not so gentle) art of flagellation, to be too thick; they are less flexible and tend to lack the essential bite which is so important in producing the much desired welts across a lad's naked arse which in turn ensure that when he rises from the beating stool he does so sporting a truly well-beaten arse worthy of inspection by his mates. Beyond the diameter, the only other important thing is the length of the cane; the longer the cane, the greater the force when it lands on its target and the greater pain it delivers. So lengths vary from 70 cm to a little over 100 cm. Combine the diameters and the lengths you will see how a simple rod used for arse beating could, and in fact, does occupy several catalogue pages. A simple rigid bamboo rod may not be as effective as a well balanced rattan cane; but believe me; in the right hands it is also a lethal implement capable of delivering real pain; and that at the end of the day is really all that matters.

And then there is the question of the birch; that fabled scourge of yore which was generally the most feared of all punishment implements in English public schools. Kevin had used the birch only occasionally on board the Great Endeavour; however, faced as he now was with new arrivals sentenced by the juvenile courts to one or even several mandatory birchings by the school, he could do little other than accept that the birch would have to become an integral part of the regular punishment scene at Moulton-Midmarsh. And if for newcomers who arrived with a mandatory birching schedule to their names, then why not use it also for the internees, many of whom were regular miscreants and needed sharp correction. The day of the true birch, made of freshly gathered twigs from the eponymous tree or other suitably twiggy shrubs such as the hazel, was long gone. But the supply houses had risen to the occasion and now offered several different options of what I suppose one has to classify as synthetic birches.

The best, or from the recipient's point of view the worst, of these are made from a number of semi-rigid strands of stressed stainless steel cable enclosed in a polythene outer casing. Firmly anchored into a hollow, metallic handle and made in number of different calibres, these implements, which have a more or less indefinite life, faithfully mimic the true birch; they are capable, thanks to their spreading nature, of inflicting pain across the whole area of a recipient's arse, unlike the cane which leaves distinct welts. But the great advantage of this modern introduction is the fact that due to the greater density of the material, which gives it greater weight, in the hands of an experienced user, it is capable of inflicting what can but be described as transcendental pain. The old natural birch had long been considered the worst of all punishments; but the pain it delivered fades into insignificance when compared to that of the synthetic birch applied by capable hands.

Kevin Pettifer had spent considerable time perusing the cane and birch pages of the supplier's catalogue and finally opted for top- quality, Indonesian, Malacca canes; straight handled with a firm leather grip and a full metre long, he selected two different calibres: 6mm and 10mm. He ordered twenty of the lighter canes with which to equip the guards and ten of the heavier calibre, destined for his own use and for general use in the correction room by Stephen Shaw. Then there was the question of the birches; an absolute must in view of the increasing fondness of magistrates to include a schedule of birchings – always the birch and never the cane – along with their custodial sentences. It was Kevin's intention to administer such mandatory punishments in his own office as well as in the correction room. He therefore ordered four birches, two of each of the 2 and 4 mm calibres. And then there was the need for the professional, adjustable beating-stool; he ordered two of them; one for the correction room as already mentioned earlier and one for his own office, as he had every intention of skinning in private, the backsides of any suitable candidates who arrived with the appropriate – well let us call them – paper qualifications.

CHAPTER 5

The school was fully equipped and the warders had arrived and settled awaiting the first wave of inmates, when another of those brown paper OHMS envelopes arrived from the department of Juvenile Corrections. It was addressed impersonally to the Warden with no mention of his name and read as follows:

Dear Sir,

We have to inform you that the first contingent of young detainees will be arriving at the new Moulton-Midmarsh School in two weeks time. As agreed, the first detainees to be received by the school will be those being transferred from the soon-to-be defunct, correctional facility on board HMTS Great Endeavour. However, the Department has decided that only those most dangerous and difficult to control of the present detainees from the Great Endeavour will be transferred to Moulton-Midmarsh. The remaining detainees will be dispersed and transferred to other similar correctional facilities located across the country.

The Commanding Officer, Commander S. Devere-Savile, has been charged with selecting those detainees who will be transferred to Moulton- Midmarsh. The transfer will be effected by road in a high security coach and the detainees in question will be under armed guard for the entire journey. This Department requires you as Warden of the school, to make sure that you are ready to receive the twenty young men from the Great Endeavour all of whom who will require immediate strict supervision.

According to the report from the Reform Schools' Inspectorate, who has visited the new facility, it appears that all arrangements for the school to function are in place and therefore you should have no problem in accepting an immediate initial intake of twenty young men from the Great Endeavour. The names of those detainees whom you will receive are listed on the attached schedule and their files will be sent to you in the next few days.

The Department has decided that Moulton-Midmarsh, as a high security establishment where the strictest control and discipline can be exercised over the inmates, will become the prime location for detaining the worst of our young offenders: those hard-core young men who pose a threat to both the general public and to other detainees: young men who require the strictest control and supervision at all times. You will therefore be receiving over the next two months, contingents of young offenders transferred from other correctional facilities across the country, and Moulton- Midmarsh will become the site of choice for the confinement of those youths whom the Department thinks require special supervision and frequent discipline.

The Department also draws your attention to the fact that the juvenile courts throughout the country are handing down ever more severe sentences in an attempt to stamp out juvenile crime. Such sentences are increasingly accompanied by mandatory birching orders. Moulton-Midmarsh, as the prime reform school in the country for such serious young offenders, will be one of the key places of choice to which such young criminals will be sent by the courts. We would draw your attention to the fact that the schools to which such offenders are sent is legally obliged to carry out any mandatory corporal punishments imposed by the courts. We would further add that mandatory birching orders must be carried out with a birch and not with a cane as a substitute. We would therefore suggest that, if you have not already done so, you equip ourselves with a supply of the necessary modern birch rods which may be obtained from one of the approved supply houses, as you will certainly need them in the near future.

Moulton -Midmarsh, is destined to become the most important of all the reform schools in the country and by the end of the first year of operation the Department expects it to be operating at its full, two-hundred inmate, capacity.

Yours Truly,

R. G. Chalmers,

Principle Undersecretary.

Kevin Pettifer and Stephen Shaw, as Warden and Chief Disciplinarian discussed the contents of the letter in bed that evening before they indulged themselves, as they so often did, in a couple of hours of their favourite activity: intense anal copulation; an act which no matter now often and frequently repeated never fails to please. And another thing had to be said now that the two of them were free of the straight-jacketed, rank-conscious, naval atmosphere where position dictated every aspect of life; the relationship between Kevin and Stephen, which had, in spite of going against naval protocol, always been very good, now became even better. Although Kevin was still in charge and Stephen was hierarchically beneath him, they were now very much partners in running a completely new ship. Kevin had realised how lucky he was to have Stephen as an experienced second; and Stephen was relieved that he had Kevin to support him as he started on his rather serious duties of Chief Disciplinarian. It was one thing watching lads being thoroughly thrashed as he had watched Kevin do for the past five years, but quite another to actually carry out the beatings oneself.

"Well, Stephen, there you have it; Moulton-Midmarsh is not to be the place to which the present internees of the Great Endeavour are to be transferred, which is what I understood it to be when I was offered this job. In a word my friend, we are to become the repository of what I can but describe, if it is not a contradiction in terms, as the crème de la crème of the dregs of the dregs of juvenile criminals. Like it or not; that is our future as now programmed by the Department of Juvenile Corrections. So you and I will have to steel ourselves to preside over a group of young tearaways, many of whom are definitely dangerous, good-for-nothing- stop-at-nothing, young thugs, who will eventually number some two-hundred in all; that is the target for the school set by the Department. My guess is that the cane and the birch will never be still for long."