wildcornerz: 2026

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.

Sunday, 1 February 2026

Wild man Kyle Pidduck

Kyle Pidduck documents his life living wild around the uk with his two dogs. There's quite a lot of 'outdoor living' Youtubers out there. Some more interesting than others.

I first found his channel while he was walking and sleeping along the coastal path up to Scotland.

After many months he decided to cross back over the border and settle down for the winter in a small cabin he built illegally in some woods. He lived there hidden away for months at the secret location. He recently gave up the cabin and is currently sleeping in a car he bought, still with his dogs.

His videos capture some beautiful scenes of the countrysides wild corners, as he strays off the path looking for places to sleep and gather wood.

In this video he takes us on a tour of some of his old skippers and haunts, growing up around the edge lands of the north east.