Friday, April 28, 2017

The Horsingdon Transmissions No.118: Allotments


The stretch of the Grand Union Canal which flows past Horsingdon Hill bears witness to many strange things - though perhaps none so strange as the squat, crooked gateways which can be found along the left bank of this part of the canal. These gateways - often bearing crudely-carved sigils of curious design - grant entry to allotments situated at the foot of the Hill.

In the past, householders in the area have remonstrated with Horsingdon Borough Council regarding the state of shabby dilapidation into which the allotments have fallen, noting their neglect in various particulars, but focusing specifically on: the eyesores created by the disused and partially-collapsed sheds which inhabit these small parcels of land, and the curious weeds, shrubs and flowers of ominous hue with which the allotments have become overgrown.

Horsingdon Council has consistently ignored these complaints, and perhaps for good reason: for it is said that these problematic shrubs, weeds and flowers have been spawned by no earthly seed; that they require no earthly sustenance, but are tended by the guardians of the Black Bowers who provide nourishment of another, more ghastly kind; and that those guardians can sometimes be spied at night, singing softly of the ineffable black voids beyond the stars as their grotesque floral charges sway slowly in a ritual rythme, as if buffeted by the sedate force of star winds sweeping gently down from the gulfs of space.

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