Hangmen were competitive about the speed of their jobs. A veteran of more than 400 hangings, Albert Pierrepoint used to boast that he could do the whole thing – from walking into the condemned cell to pulling the lever – in under ten seconds. The hangman would enter the condemned cell on the stroke of the appointed hour, pull the prisoner’s arms behind his back and march him on to the trapdoors in the execution chamber. The hood and noose would immediately be placed over his head and the lever pulled.