Started January 2010 [by Jack Thurgar]

This is a scrapbook dedicated to the study of London's weeds and the wild places where they grow. Wildcornerz also looks at the languages, cultures and mythologies that develop in these cracks.


What is a Wildcorner?

A Wildcorner is a term referring to a gap that has been left to grow wild in the city. The term encompasses every wild piece of land no matter the size, from large disused sports grounds to small patches of commercial wasteland, to a crack in the pavement. As long as this gap in the man made landscape harbours some kind of weed, then it is considered a Wildcorner.

Wildcorners and Wildcorridors* are dotted all over the capital and vary in content, depending on their location and history. One thing most have in common, is that they are normally restricted in someway from public access or boarded off and hidden from public view altogether. In this blog we focus particularly on the Wildcorners of south east London.

* Wildcorridor; a word used to describe a channel or pathway that runs through an urban landscape, which facilities the propagation and growth of weeds. This includes railway sidings, rivers and canals.



Urban and Suburban Weeds

By the term 'weeds' we are of course referring to the cities wild plants and flowers. But their are also two other weeds that grow in the city.

'Graf' like its botanical relation, has many families and strains. Both of these weeds can often be found together, sharing many qualities including their adaptive nature and unregulated status. Both in many cases, originally entered and populated the city using the railway network.

Another 'weed' that historically flourishes in London is invisible and uses the tops of tower blocks to propagate. Pirate radio like its weed relatives, grows away from the public eye and is constantly adapting to exploit these same gaps across the cities FM radio spectrum, fighting and flourishing in-between the commercial stations.

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Tuesday 31 July 2012

The God of Weeds appears in SE12

My friend has told me before of a wildcorner near to his flat in Lee, SE12. While on the way to visiting him last friday, i remembered and took the long way around, to pass it.
The corner is hidden away behind a row of shops and is not over looked from any side. The corrugated iron fence was too high to look over and the trees and scrub to thick to peer through. 
I walked around the side of the corner and along a narrow alleyway. It was there I found a wire fence and then, a few yards along, a small hole made in it at the bottom.


 The rusted ends of the wires, suggest the hole was made some years ago.
I climbed through and pulled myself up and into the small clearing. My heart skipped when my eyes caught the white antlers of the lone beast, sticking out above the tall nettles at the far end of the corner.
The Lewisham Natureman's spirit dwells in the most forgotten of places.





Wednesday 18 July 2012

Diabolical Dub Stars



Here is a sample clip from the forthcoming documentary 'Underbelly'.

It is created from exclusive original footage filmed by the current members of  DDS. They filmed themselves over the last five years, breaking into yards and bombing London's tube trains. Where as some crews are in every graff video on youtube, DDS have kept their video tapes under secret lock and key and it has become the subject of many chinese whispers.
 DDS are a legendary crew and are the undisputed kings of London train graff. They have been active for the last 20 years. The crew includes such notorious names as FUEL, TEACH, SUB ONE, ZOMBY, PRIME and FUME.
 They are credited for keeping london tube bombing alive during the dark years of the late 90's, adapting to new tighter security measures and utilising new technology to carry out there missions.
It's made by the guy who directed 'Taking Liberties;' a doc about the decline of civil liberties in the UK.




Wednesday 4 July 2012

London Pirates


 Been meaning to put this up for ages.
Here is a great short doc on Londons pirate radio culture. A brief history and what remains to the day. Made in 2010