South Norwood Tourist Board

SNTB have chosen to campaign to name lake in the country park Lake Conan (pronounced Ko-Nan), not only to commemorate the residency of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in South Norwood, but also for the following reasons:

Lakes usually only have a one word name – we aim to keep this tradition

To conjure up other poetic images and literary references with the type of terrain the lake is situated, as John Walsh from the Independent described:

Near the water, colours start to appear. Brambles take on a pinky sheen. Yellow whin-bushes shiver in the cold breeze. A white hawthorn has recklessly begun to flower, heedless of the late spring. Beside the lake, the tall fern grasses stroke your hands as if you’re Maximus Decimus Meridius discovering the Elysian Fields in Gladiator.

Think Conan the Barbarian, Maximus Decimus Meridius; imagine Elysium and the stream of Okeanos (you have to cross a stream if entering from the Harrington Road entrance), an area surrounded in mysticism, intrigue and beautiful nature.

We feel this name would be an embodiment of Conan Doyle’s life work; the mysterious cases Holmes had to solve to his contribution, to the spiritualist world that Conan Doyle found so fascinating.