tracking the old path of the river effra at west norwood cemetery

I'm coming to the last stages of research for my book In the Catacombs : a Summer among the dead poets of West Norwood Cemetery, which is being published by Penned in the Margins in June. One of the journeys I've taken is along the old course of the River Effra, using this as a way of positioning the twelve forgotten poets of the cemetery against the main flow of Victorian poetry.

 

Drain above the old route of the Effra, diverted in the 1830s

Radiant light on the grave of John Hughes

Shadow in the morning sun

Angel in stone

Recent downpours have logged above the old course of the river

Four images of the grave of Sophie Beard, died 1850

The current Effra, raising its head in Belair Park