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 piece of land that has been left to grow wild in a man made landscape. To be a true Wildcorner, the land has to be restricted from public access. Many are hidden from public view altogether. A common type of wildcorner is referred to by govements and local authorities as a 'brownfield site'.

Wildcorners and corridors* are dotted all over the capital and vary in content, depending on their location and history. In this blog we focus particularly on the Wildcorners of south east London.

* Wildcorridors are networks of pathways that run through the city and facilitate the propagation and growth of weeds. Many are restricted from public access such as railway embankments and urban rivers. In the suburbs, footpaths such as the Green Chain connect public green areas by a network of alleyways and passages that skirt between houses and private land. It could be argued that these are also wild corridors.



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, 17 April 2012

Walking Wastelands


The Lewisham Natureman; King of Weeds, can be seen trotting through this wildcorner in Lee High Road, where he appeared and then mysteriously vanished once before. 
I first spotted the spirit from the top deck of the 321 bus at night, his golden antlers shining through the dark as the bus roared past. 
I revisited the corner again the next day for a closer look. This corner is sealed off from the street and is only accessible by our friend the river Quaggy. It is just along the river from the newly built Hindu temple [behind Nando's] and is right in the heart of Lewisham. 
This time hes body appears to be moving in a space inside the wall, like the brick and plaster were a thick liquid ooze. Or he is changing his colour like a chameleon to match the yellow and green stripes of the former car dealers.








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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous27 June 2012 at 14:12

    This space has been empty prime real art-estate for a long time. I am also a bus user.
    Nice to see that someone else added to it once it was clear that access was possible.
    Quaggy-climb is quite exciting.definately adds to the installation.
    Nice materials usage, and ghost outline behind

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  2. Wildcornerz 2 July 2012 at 11:25

    The stag is thought to be the 'Wild Walker', an incarnation or representation of The Lewisham Natureman, [see right hand side of page] who appears in wildcorners and corridors throughout the whole borough. Where there is access or not. I photographed the drawings someones done on the other walls there, during an earlier trip down the quaggy. see: http://wildcornerz.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/when-corridor-connects-corner-se13.html

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