The polyrhythmia of a good day buzzed and hummed with toing and froing, comings and goings of a community getting on with everyday business. Wings thrummed with calls for gym and shop, preparation for visits and the endless search for irons and deodorant to make themselves as presentable as possible for all-too-brief and emotionally laden reunions, staff offering one another a brew and the purposeful scuffing of rubber on lino. Various strains of the soundscape crackled with daily life in ways which seemed to echo with activity and occupation. As rhythms became increasingly discernible, the partial truth of this became more apparent.

As Cohen and Taylor assert, the passing of time took on new challenges and complications in the context of life inside. The constraints of the prison presented a continual challenge to the common pursuit of keeping busy. As Ket pointed out, both prisoners and staff were engaged in doing “what they’ve got to do to live, and to earn, to hustle, to get by” – the collective soundscape this engendered comprised an array of practices, which parcelled and passed time. In themselves quite meaningless, idle “bitting and bobbing”, as Officer Rose referred to it, was both dictated by the necessity of endless attempts to meet the most mundane of needs, and a means of relieving the mundanity of boredom. There were parallels between the hustle on the wings, and on the streets in town, where considerable numbers seemed caught in a perpetual waiting. There were opportunities too, to make a little money or repay outstanding debts in the knowledge their paths would cross with those they owed, inside or out. Tommy referred to this: