The Swamp [Vol 1]

Here is the full length version of my film The Swamp. A poetic documentary about my favourite wild corner, hidden on a secluded train embankment close to my childhood home. It is the place I was first told about the legend of the Lewisham Natureman and shown his scratched crown tag.

The film is made from a collage of footage I filmed there over the last 20 + years. It is the first of a series exploring different aspects of the Swamp. This first episode examines the mysterious pond and the unnamed stream.

Pirate Radio Pirate

More UK pirate interviews.

This time with Killer, former owner of Y2K Essex. He features in an episode of the now informous BBC mini series 'Tower Block Dreams' in 2003. Elements of this episode were directly parodied in early episodes of the comedy 'People Just do Nothing'. 

After this period he became better known within pirate radio circles as a prolific rig thief and racketeer, preying on stations throughout the uk. 

Tales from the darker side of pirate radio culture.

Brains of the top Pirate

Eastman, head honcho of London's top pirate Kool FM. Great documentation of 'the complicated life' of a great London character. He shares memories with his old friend Dj Ron of growing up in 1970's Hackney and Sound system culture. Its interesting hearing about some of the trials and struggles of running such a successful pirate station in London and how they overcame them and flourished. 

He is a formidable character, especially as a younger man. Being the stations boss, his face was always pixelated out of group photo's backstage at raves. It feels like if it wasnt for finding pirate radio, he may have ended up as some kind of crime boss and been equally successful at that. 

If London pirates are radio weeds, Kool has got to be the most successful strain of Willow herb. The empty hissing gaps in the fm radio spectrum are the restricted scraps of wild land in the capital, awaiting commercial development. 

To flourish for 31 years is an amazing achievement and the legacy of the station in british music and club culture cannot be over looked. 

Skippering

Another element often found in the wildcorners of South London are traces of 'Skippers'. This slang term was used by homeless communities of old London, meaning a temporary site used for rough sleeping. 

The word is derived from Skepper or Skypper; another name for a Barn. The term seems to appear often when referring to the barn as somewhere to sleep the night.

 It gradually widened to include all general out-houses and shelters for over night stays. 

Skippers are temporary, often improvised and hidden away from public view for safety reasons. This is why the high wooden hoardings and advertising boards of wildcorners make them an ideal location for 'skippering' in modern day cities and towns.  

[2008, The Swamp]

 John Healy mentions skippers in his classic The Grass Arena [1988] which documents his years of homeless and extreme alcoholism.

'Skippering is illegal; also rough. Some skippers are fair; most are bad. One feature common to both - they are all lousy.'

 'Fights break out in the night; the police come in, nick you or throw you out. depending on their mood; any nutcase can walk in, burn the place down while you’re in a drunken stupor. You try to sleep in the attic with the birds but end up in the basement with the rats.' 

 

Governors, Duo's, Lone-wolfs - Graf Storytellers of old London Town

Here are some of my picks from the Killa Kela podcast.

This is a selection of my favourite characters behind some of the biggest tags, from the 80s and 90s London scenes. The Char and Steam interviews are particular jewels. 

They tell childhood stories, growing up in a different era of London, as well as tales of missions and danger, memories of names and locations that interweave to form part of the rich tapestry that is London graffiti folklore.

 

Uncle Yammy; The great storyteller of life behind the door

Thought this was definitly one for the wildcorner corner. Check out Yammy B's youtube channel for his regular stories from over 40 years in the uk prison system.

Yammy came from an extremely traumatic childhood and was put into care at the age of 9 and then on to borstal and then prison. He spent years in the 'Cat A's' where he got hooked on class a drugs and became a notorious hitman for various inmates.

He is now many years clean and a reformed character. He is an amazing story teller; with bags of charisma and street wisdom. His stories come effortlessly from his memory and couldn't be told better if they had been written and rehearsed a hundred times. 

Here also is his excellent James English interview which goes back to his childhood and where he is at today. 

The Swamp [Vol 1] Extended Trailer - NEWNESS!

This is a trailer for my first video in a new series. 

The videos explore the infamous Swamp; a secluded piece of wild land in Lewisham and are made from footage I filmed there over the last 20 years.

In this first chapter I look at the mysterious pond and the unnamed stream.

Run time of full film: 24 mins

A Portrait of Mr Pink [The Pink House, Lewisham]

Some of you may have seen this already but had to document it here for the archive. If you haven't, this is the beautiful short 'A Portrait of Mr Pink' by Helena Appio. Like the house itself, The film had a mythical status to me, as I had been trying to see it for years. For Lewisham residents The Pink house has been a local landmark for decades and a source of wonder and childhood myths.
The film is beautifully shot and uses the Mr Pink's own crackly recordings for a perfect natural soundtrack.
Mr Brenton Samuel Pink sadly passed away last year. Its so good that the film was made and gives us a glimpse into Mr Pink's world. For me, it has only added to the legend of the Pink House and its eccentric creative inhabitent.
The house is still there at present, standing in darkness at the top of Lonepit Vale.

Bad Meaning Good

Here is the 1987 BBC film documenting early UK Hip hop culture.
Presented and produced by Tim Westwood.

Some press and net cuttings on Lewisham's white deer

{The Telegraph}

{Curriculum Enrichment magazine}

(Lib Dem's magazine 'In focus')

Here are a collection of some newspaper cuttings and web articles on The Lewisham Natureman from earlier in the year. The press coverage was sparked from liberal democrat councillor Cllr Chris Maines campaign to save the mural on Cressingham road. This has been already painted on and can be seen in the press pictures. [Notice the black paint over the mouth of the deer and over some of the background.]

In all these articles The Lewisham Natureman is spoken of as the name of the artist and not of the stag spirit itself.  Some have also reported the deer, as different members of a heard rather than the same solo spectre.

Not much is known about the stag or who created it but we do know [by looking at the writing underneath the mural piece on Cressingham road] is that it is some kind of tribute to the Lewisham Natureman and not made by 'him'. 

This is a name already know to us at Wildcornerz through our research and documentation of South East Londons' derelict gaps. The Lewisham Natureman was the name attached to a small carved symbol of a crown [in the same style as the boroughs logo] with a dandy-lion growing through it, though some report it as a Thistle or a Daisy. 

This tiny symbol was found in various wastelands and wild spots around the borough of Lewisham from the late 1970s to the end of the century. Sometimes they would be accompanied by a date and would normally be hidden away.

Due to their mystery, they became the subject of many urban legends amongst local children who would play in these wild corners. The basis of the myth / legend links the symbols directly to the wild places they were found and suggest their maker is some kind of shamon or wild man who lives in or uses them. Other versions describe him more as a 'spirit of wild nature', a 'familiar' to the weeds who helps them to grow and protects the wild corner.

The myth was also know to some in other communities that use these spaces, such as the local graffiti crews, travellers, urban fishers, the homeless and street drinkers. Fences are jumped and bars are bent to access these cracks and corners of the city. These fringe communities of London can still be found using these 'wastelands' spaces no matter how temporary the stay. Some of these would have used what was know as Common land centuries ago and the many bomb sites and edgelands around London in the last century. Now even these gaps; 'commercial wastelands' / 'brownfield sites' are becoming increasingly more transitory, due to the London Assembly's current building strategy for the capital. The core idea being to build on land within the city, rather than expanding further out.   

The deers are not signed and maybe their maker is not what is important.

We at Wildcornerz like to believe the stag is the Lewisham Natureman, in animal form; an embodiment of this same spirit of wild places in Lewisham.   

Touch DDS - Stories from my life

The London Perambulator (full length documentary)

A fascinating and fondly made portrait of the writer and deep topographer; Nick Papadimitriou. He takes us with him on walks to some of his favourite spots, while describing the landscape he also reflects upon his life and work. The film contains interviews with Will Self, Ian Sinclair and Russell Brand.

Blue Boro Documentory - Lewisham

Finally found the full length version of this lovingly crafted film documenting Lewisham's urban music scene; Grime, Road Rap, R n'B etc. Youngers and olders talk about the boroughs black musical history and its lineage to the scene today.
 The doc also looks at the connection between 'the blue's' musical movement and the boroughs street gangs. It is interesting that the Woodpecker estate is constantly referred to as a birth place of the scene. Its one remaining tower stands tall on the landscape and is home to the Ghetto Boys, a street gang from New Cross who originally formed back in the mid to late 1970's.
 Theres a lot of talking heads in this doc but some interesting reflections and some solid bars from the likes of Big Cakes, Status, SRG [look for the old faded 'CASE' graffiti before his section, a local punk band active in the 1980's] and of course the mighty P Money among others.
 Shame Kozzie and Dot Rotten didn't feature and it would of been nice to see more of Saxon and the connection to those early days which Skeme touches on in his interview.
 Never the less, its great that this slept on scene has been documented in this way and younger mc's / producers are given a sense of history and context to the music they are making today.
 Blue boro stand up!



My Ends - Rapman Ft King Zion [Blue Borough]
 Why did they close down Yates?