BB FANS

Tonights going to be interesting

The Tyburn tree was a huge triangular construction, the three posts were 18 feet high and the crossbeams were nine feet long - capable of hanging 24 (eight on each horizontal beam) prisoners at once. Records only show it being used at full capacity once, in 1649, but days when only one person was hanged were very rare.

Being hanged at the tree was an agonising death; standing on a wagon with a rope around their neck the condemned waited for the horse to be whipped so that it ran forward. This meant that as the wagon moved away the prisoners were only supported by the rope around their necks. A slow death by asphyxiation followed.

Hangings were a big public festival. Crowds gathered along the route from Newgate to Tyburn, and around the Tyburn tree itself, often exceeding 100,000. The rich rented upper-storey rooms in houses and pubs so that they could get the best views. Street hawkers and food vendors also lined the route - they knew a good bet when they saw one. A grandstand was even erected at the gallows. Thieves and pickpockets also took advantage of the holiday atmosphere.

The tree has been replaced by the baying crowd outside the BB house, put their by their manipulators, just like the bad old days.