And, like all of Britain’s 134 jails, it has a drugs problem. Many inmates arrived with a habit and one lad was heard telling fellow prisoners his mum gave him a line of coke to celebrate his ninth birthday.
By the time we enter A Wing, Darren Owers, our prison officer guide, has unlocked and then re-locked a seemingly never-ending series of heavy metal doors.
On the lower landing, youths in prison issue grey jogging pants, blue T-shirts and grey pumps, play pool and table tennis. The warders join in and keep a watchful eye.
Many inmates have their hands down the front of their trousers, a gangland stance which, in the outside world, signifies they are carrying a gun.