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

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Kool Fm - BBC Doc from '96

 Why i have i never found this 3 parter before?
 Kool Fm from Hackney are The undisputed king of London Pirates.
 Also contains interviews with Battersea's Dream Fm  and Tottenham's Rare Groove record shop.

Thursday 18 October 2012

Wednesday 17 October 2012

London Pirate Folklore


  This is a link to Uncle Dugs's show 'Run Come Follow Friday'. This one is a pirate radio special to mark the 18th Birthday of East London's Rinse FM and tell the stations story.
It's an extra long show with interviews with some of the big names in London pirate radio history, such as Eastman and DJ Brockie from Kool Fm.
This is a great piece of aural folklore, with plenty of interesting and funny stories from the day.
Rinse is now a legal station, winning a community radio licence last year on the FM frequency.
 I cant stop playing this at the moment. So if you want to download it, copy and paste the link below and right click uncle dugs show. .. that rhymed.  .. and then Save link As.

 http://rinse.fm/2012/10/28th-29th-september/

Friday 5 October 2012

A List of London's Radio Weeds


87.6 Playback UK (garage/dubstep/house)
88.0 Shine FM (house)
88.2 Rude FM (d'n'b)
88.4 Vision Radio (garage)
88.6 Back 2 Back (soul/jazz/funk)
89.4 Unknown FM (house/disco)
80.6 Klick Radio (r'n'b/soul/reggae)
89.8 Station FM (talk/reggae/ragga/r'n'b)
90.0 Hot 90 (talk/african)
90.2 Point Blank FM (house/garage/d'n'b/soul)
90.4 Woah! (r'n'b/ragga/hip-hop)
90.8 Lightning Radio (reggae/ragga/r'n'b/hip-hop)
91.6 Genesis Radio (talk/reggae/ragga/r'n'b)
92.0 Scream London (d'n'b/garage/house)
92.2 Metrolove Radio (r'n'b/soul/ragga/hip-hop)
92.4 Deja Vu (grime/garage/funky/d'n'b/hip-hop)
92.7 Energy Radio (reggae)
93.0 Breeze (reggae/soca/r'n'b)
93.8 Vibes FM (talk/reggae/ragga)
94.0 Voice of Africa (talk/african)
94.4 Street FM (reggae/soca/ragga/r'n'b)
94.6 Kool FM (d'n'b/jungle/hardcore)
95.1 Origin FM (d'n'b/jungle/hardcore)
95.5 On Top (grime/hip-hop/r'n'b)
96.1 Supreme Dance (house/techno)
96.4 Surprise Radio (talk/african)
97.5 Blazing Radio (r'n'b/hip-hop/garage/ragga)
97.9 Passion FM (house)
98.3 RJR (reggae)
99.1 Hav It (reggae/ragga/r'n'b)
99.3 Select UK (house/techno)
99.5 Galaxy Radio (talk/reggae/soul/ragga)
99.7 Flex FM (garage/d'n'b/house/funky)
99.8 Supreme FM (reggae/ragga/r'n'b)
100.3 House FM (house)
101.5 Live FM (garage/house/funky)
101.2 Unique FM (reggae/r'n'b)
101.8 Bizim (talk/turkish)
101.9 The Beat (talk/reggae/ragga)
102.0 Concious (reggae/dub)
102.5 Inna City Radio (r'n'b/hip-hop/garage/funky)
103.0 Image (garage/house/d'n'b/funky)
104.0 Muzik Radio (reggae/soul)
104.2 Dem Radyo (talk/turkish)
106.0 SLR (reggae/r'n'b)
106.8 Rinse FM *legal* (funky/grime/dubstep/d'n'b)
108.0 Pulse London (d'n'b/garage/funky/house)

 This list was updated in March 2012.
 Long Live the Pirates!!!