John Cowper Powys was a highly eccentric British writer, whose extremely long novels explored folklore, landscape and mythology. Though some were set in the South West of England, Powys later reinvented himself as a kind of wizard Welshman. His magnum opus, Porius, is around 1000 pages long and features Merlin, King Arthur, the bard Taliessin, Neanderthal giants, the cult of Mithras, and an alchemical child. Two accounts of bilocation (being in two places simultaneously) are associated with Powys. In one incident, he promised to appear to a friend at precisely two o'clock the following day. At the appointed time, the friend looked up and saw Powys before his image slowly faded. The other account involved him appearing at a hotel to a nephew who had annoyed him, bursting through some doors and shouting "No tea! No tea!" The nephew later asserted there was no way Powys could have been at the hotel at that time. #literature #folklore #mythology #weird #paranormal #books #occult

John Cowper Powys was a highly eccentric British writer, whose extremely long novels explored folklore, landscape and mythology. Though some were set in the South West of England, Powys later reinvented himself as a kind of wizard Welshman. His magnum opus, Porius, is around 1000 pages long and features Merlin, King Arthur, the bard Taliessin, Neanderthal giants, the cult of Mithras, and an alchemical child. Two accounts of bilocation (being in two places simultaneously) are associated with Powys. In one incident, he promised to appear to a friend at precisely two o'clock the following day. At the appointed time, the friend looked up and saw Powys before his image slowly faded. The other account involved him appearing at a hotel to a nephew who had annoyed him, bursting through some doors and shouting "No tea! No tea!" The nephew later asserted there was no way Powys could have been at the hotel at that time. #literature #folklore #mythology #weird #paranormal #books #occult

Established in 1854, the London Necropolis Railway aimed to relieve pressure on overcrowded city churchyards by whisking the dead out to Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey. Its station, near Waterloo, featured a steam-powered coffin lift & a glass roof so no shadow would be cast on the hearse carriage. Nearby railway arches acted as mortuaries and coffins were kept in stock so guests dying unexpectedly in hotels could be discreetly removed. The station contained many waiting rooms, in which funeral services could be held, and customers could purchase first, second and third-class funeral packages. The service wound down after World War II, but the station office building can still be seen on Westminster Bridge Road. #WyrdWednesday #history #gothic #folklore #architecture #death #weird #trains #railway #London #psychogeography #graveyard

Established in 1854, the London Necropolis Railway aimed to relieve pressure on overcrowded city churchyards by whisking the dead out to Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey. Its station, near Waterloo, featured a steam-powered coffin lift & a glass roof so no shadow would be cast on the hearse carriage. Nearby railway arches acted as mortuaries and coffins were kept in stock so guests dying unexpectedly in hotels could be discreetly removed. The station contained many waiting rooms, in which funeral services could be held, and customers could purchase first, second and third-class funeral packages. The service wound down after World War II, but the station office building can still be seen on Westminster Bridge Road. #WyrdWednesday #history #gothic #folklore #architecture #death #weird #trains #railway #London #psychogeography #graveyard