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The life and times of Police Woman number 4 Neil Hallam , Editor. Barbara Hallam had been many things in her life, but it was nine of her 86 years that defined her. Those years in Police uniform built the strength of character that made mum, even in her later years, a very phenomenal woman. W hile my Dad, Gordon Hallam , was finishing his probation in 1954, a young Barbara Joyce became bored One of Mansfield’s larger than life police characters was Chief Inspector “Big Bill” Hancock. Big

Barbara Hallam on duty in Mansfield Market Place

Women joined in London. Barbara was very proud to be invited to their celebration at Nottingham’s Central Police Station. Although I was a Detective at the time, I dug out my uniform, to accompany Mum, who was one of Nottinghamshire’s oldest surviving Police Women. I had recently taken over as Editor of Police World, so Editor’s privilege came in handy, as I was able to put Mum on the front cover. I lost my Mum in July, after a very short and aggressive bout of cancer. Our final choice of music for Mum’s funeral was the theme from TV’s Heartbeat . This was essential viewing in our home during the 1990s. It seemed like ancient history to my brother Clive and I, but it was set in the period that Mum wore a Police uniform. She enjoyed sharing that window into her police service with us. You can read more about Barbara & Gordon Hallam’s careers, in Neil’s book The Tricycle Spy available on Amazon and at www.neilhallam.com

Bill drove a Police Ford Popular to make point with the Constables. Point was the way in which supervisors kept track of their Constables in the days before personal radios. Big Bill’s large stomach rested on the steering wheel. He never used the handbrake, causing the car to roll back and forth. When HMIC visited Mansfield, Big Bill was asked what additional training probationers got on return from training school. His reply, in a very deep voice, was “a fortnight on nights.” Although there were many similarities between the Police work of men and women, there were also some very significant differences. Police Women got 9/10ths of the men’s pay, but they did not work nights unless there was a job requiring a Police Woman. Barbara always thought the 1/10 less pay was a very good trade off for not working night shift. Barbara made the local newspaper a few times. The first was for prosecuting a mother, who she found drunk in charge of a baby in a pram. Mansfield was at the time a hard drinking mining town, where even the women liked a pint or two. Barbara’s second brush with fame was after the Policemen’s Easter Ball. The local paper pictured Barbara covering the switchboard at Mansfield Police Station, while the men were away at their meal. The Inspector was interviewed for the article, making a comment he would not get away with today. “We would like to have invited the women, but it’s always been stag. We bought them chocolates as a consolation. I thought about buying them Easter Bonnets, but the Police Authority provides their headgear.” In accordance with the expectations of the time, Barbara left the police in 1963, for the birth of their first son, Neil. Once my brother and I were safely off to school, it was time for mum to re- enter the world of paid work, in the Police Control Room, from where she retired in 1993. In 2016 Nottinghamshire celebrated 100 years of Police Women, a year after the first Police

of her office job and sought out a new adventure in the Police. She joined the County Force, into what was then a completely separate Police Women’s department. One of her former school friends told me a funny story, about their first holiday together after mum joined the police. Her friend was under strict instructions not to tell any of the men they met that she was a Police Woman. Probationary Constables were sent to larger Police Stations, so Barbara began her tutorship in her home town of Mansfield. She was moved after confirmation of appointment, to Beeston, where her duties included covering the Shire Hall Courts in Nottingham. Here the caretaker’s wife made a huge pot of tea during breaks. All ranks joined the Barristers in their wigs and gowns for a cup of tea. Barbara’s regular beat was in Beeston, but she also covered traffic duty outside the Erikson Telecoms factory. There was a level crossing nearby and when the factory turned out, there were so many bicycles that the crossing keeper could not close the gates when trains were due. In her first job at Beeston, Barbara was teamed with a Detective investigating thefts from the Boots factory. When women were interviewed, the rules of the time demanded a Police Woman had to be present. After her marriage, Barbara moved back to Mansfield, which had eight beats. Numbers one to four surrounded the market place. Numbers five to eight surrounded the first four. Often Officers had to take two beats through lack of numbers, a situation which has remained consistent into today’s Police. One hour of each shift was spent on the Signal Light, which was a call for officers to return to the station. Unoccupied properties also needed checking, and Aliens, as they were called at the time, were visited once a month, which was how Barbara first met the Ukrainians, who would become lifelong friends of our family.

Neil and Barbara Hallam

POLICE WORLD Vol 65 No.4, 2020

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