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.

© Copyright of Wildcornerz. All rights reserved. For enquiries please contact: wildcornerz1@yahoo.co.uk

Saturday 11 December 2010

Derelict art deco Co-op building in Woolwich

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=31697&highlight=woolwich

Monday 29 November 2010

Bring ur child to work day


A copper and his son guard a Tardis.

Tuesday 23 November 2010

The Lincolnshire Poacher - Caught on Video



This is footage of a transition by the illusive Number Stations 'Lincolnshire Poacher'.

Transmission code Format:
First 15 notes of an old English folk song "Lincolnshire Poacher" rpt 12 times, then
5FG ID rpt 6 times
Two notes on a glockenspiel

Msg 200 5FG, same length always
"Lincolnshire Poacher" rpt 6 times

The Lincolnshire Poacher" is a traditional English folk song associated with the county of Lincolnshire, and dealing with the joys of poaching.



Notes:

Currently uses these frequencies between 1200-2300:

Saturday 25 September 2010

Automated Beacon by Thompson and Craighead


"The beacon continuously relays selected live web searches as they are being made around the world, presenting them back in series and at regular intervals."

•My note- Interesting, funny, disturbing and becomes hypnotic after a while.
-a key hole to the world
-silent window/mirror

Thursday 12 August 2010

The Oysterhouse Lighthouse, Kings Cross




Here's a page investigating the mysterious old Lighthouse, on top of a derelict fish n chip shop, opposite Kings Cross station. The whole block has been derelict for over 20 years.
What this page doesnt say, is that the site was previous, where a monument to king George 1V was erected in 1830. It was sixty feet high and topped by an eleven-foot-high statue of the king. The upper storey was used as a camera obscura while the base housed a police station and then a pub. The monument was unpopular and was eventually pulled down and the Lighthouse was built in its place. Locally, the building was thought to be an advertisement sign for Nettons oyster bar below. These rumors now are thought to be untrue. The area remains know as kings Cross after this monument.

As it stands this is one of four Lighthouses in London.
Check:
http://www.urban75.org/london/oyster-bar-kings-cross.html

Wednesday 21 July 2010

Video capturing the east London allotments, that are facing destruction for the boundries of the Olympic site

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuClVcl3GXg&feature=related

Video by Emily Richardson
Narrated by Iain Sinclair

Olympic degeneration with author Iain Sinclair

http://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2010/07/olympic-degeneration-with-author-iain-sinclair/

Thursday 13 May 2010

second alf

Great old 80's graff doc made in London.



Good ol' Rockingthecity.com! This doc made for television, looks at the origins of graffiti and documents its impact on London's youth of the day.
Contains lovely old footage of trains, legal walls, interviews with some London writers etc

Sunday 24 January 2010

R.I.P LEE

These two clips from the documentary film 'Dark Days'[2000] make up one lovely scene with these two great charactors; ? and Lee. This is the only scene in the film with Lee in it.
It is told that Director Marc Singer found Lee one day, over the course of his years of exploring, filming and living in the tunnels of New York's subways system.
He was far down one of the deepest tunnels. He was sitting cross legged and with his eyes closed, in the middle of a live rail track. When asked what he was doing he replied, "Waiting for the train." Marc talked him off the track and filmed this scene with him that evening.
The next day Lee was found dead. He had been hit by a train on the same piece of track where Marc had found him the day before.




Some nice video footage of some legendary London names ft. DDS and FDC Crews. [Collaged various footage]

Devlin and Deeperman Spittin Bars/ Dagenham, Essex, U.K/ 2007 [Patterns and Slang] They murk the second track especially! :-]

Some video bookmarks [from about 6 years worth of back log]






The kings of the mic explore the boundaries of DnB, garage, 2step and Grime.



Uk Hip hop legends bedroom bar, in this great piece of cam-corder footage.



90's UK ragga Don-Gar-Gan Cutty Ranks. A important figure in UK Mc history. His acapellas are often used in old school jungle tunes and his original ragga tunes included in sets by contempory DJS in the current London dance and bass music scenes.