Witchwater Country by Kilworth, Garry - 1988

London: Grafton Books, 1988. Minor reading creases to spine. In the summer of 1952 Titch Swan roamed the Essex marshes with his friends Milky and Dinger, enacting fantasy battles, scrumping apples and swimming in the brown, swirling waters of the estuary. but at night in his elderly grandparent's cottage, Titch would watch his Grandad unstrapping his artificial leg, dreading the terrible hours of darkness ahead, when only the occasional glare of passing headlights in the lane would save him from madness. And when the three friends began to search for the legendary Essex water-witches, Titch's dark fantasies began to invade his waking life. Until, on the brink of adulthood, his fear of darkness became a fear of the light.... Mass Market Paperback. Very Good.