An author with a passion for Portland's prisons has published his second book on the isle's infamous institutions, this time focusing on borstal days. John Hutton tells Joanna Davis more.

Borstal boys are being remembered thanks to a new book by a former prison officer.

John Hutton has penned a photographic history of Portland's Borstal Institution from the years 1921 to 1983.

The borstal was at The Grove on the isle and its building remains an adult and young offender establishment today.

In the book John covers the highs and lows of borstal life, including daring escapes and tales of how borstal boys, aged between 16 and 21 and known as 'trainees', turned their lives around.

"If it hadn't been for the prison I think this part of Portland would have been quarried out," John said.

The borstal book follows on from John's previous pictorial history of the prison from 1848 to 1921. It is the result of nine years of research.

John said: "Like everywhere else the borstal had a certain routine to it, it was no different to a school. "

The most disruptive times at the borstal were when there was a 'runner', John said.

"I wanted to show there were good days and bad days. When we had a lad who would run from here a lot of the time they would end up running the wrong way and would end up at Portland Bill hiding in a hut.

"It would cause disruption to everyone, a lot of the time to drivers who had to have their cars checked to see if one of the prisoners was inside.

"But at the same time the lads would do a lot of good work and would go and work inside a church or a school and do jobs for the elderly and disabled."

The book is crammed full of pictures and information, much of which John got his hands on through volunteering at the Grove Prison Museum on Portland, which is in the former deputy governor's residence. Open since March 2014, the museum has welcomed 2,000 visitors a year.

John said: "I had a lot of stuff accumulated and I wanted to get a lot of stuff into the book and give a lot of insight to the photos to make it good value."

One of many facts about borstal life that surprised John when he was doing his research was how quick and efficient the trainee count was.

"In the borstal when they were numbered they would have a parade system and it took 10 minutes to tally everybody. When I worked there when it became a YOI it took much longer with a free flow system with people wandering up at their own pace and it took an hour."

Many people associate borstals with a punitive regime. John says he thinks the system worked.

"The borstal days were the best way for the lads to educate themselves. There was a certain amount of discipline that made them more mature.

"The only problem was that they worked outside and the temptation to leg it was always there!"

The book contains a combination of maps, sketches and plans of the prison combined with some illuminating photos of prison life.

Among them is a picture showing the lads taking part in their morning physical exercise in 1922. They were required to stretch their limbs and bend over and touch their ankles.

There are also some pictures of the dreaded E Hall - the punishment block. A typical punishment would be emptying human excrement from the toilets. Above the block's front door was a sign saying 'Beware all who pass this gate'. Special chairs made out of waxed cardboard were used as more volatile inmates had been known to deal blows to officers with wood and metal chairs.

We can see the list of rules for officers handling trainees located in the 'silent cells' and learn that one book was allowed from the library and the room had to be polished and dusted by its occupant. Bathing was allowed on a Friday and letter writing was done on a Sunday afternoon. No visits other than police visits were allowed to take place.

Proving equally fascinating is an insight to the penal class diet in 1936. Bread, margarine, porridge and tea were served for breakfast, lunch was 'an ordinary institution dinner' and tea was bread, margarine, cocoa, milk and sugar.

*You can buy the Portland Borstal Institution Miscellany by John Hutton for £19 from the Lobster Pot on Portland, Whitestones on Portland, Waterstone's in Dorchester, the Engine Shed in Poundbury, the garden centre in Lynch Lane, WH Smith in Weymouth and the Grove Museum on Portland. Or call John on 01305 715726.

The Grove Prison Museum is now open on Mondays from 10am to 2pm and remains open on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 2pm throughout the year. It will be closed for a fortnight before Christmas, Christmas week and a fortnight after New Year.