Albert Pierrepont delivered groceries - and was a hangman. Following his father's footsteps he quickly became known for his efficiency and compassion, rising to become 'the best in the land'. From the early 1933 until the end of his career in 1955 he executed some 608 people including the 'Beasts of Belsen' (war criminals) for which he earned the gratitude of a nation. But by the time he hanged Ruth Ellis, the last women to be executed in Britain, public sentiments had changed....and so had Pierrepont.