The Brockley Jack pub itself is ‘just’ outside SE23, however the significance of the famous whalebone (discovered when the canal was dug) is of importance to us all along the canal route.
The Fourth Reserve Foundation are leading on this outstanding example of heritage preservation and interpretation, and I am so proud of them.
Identification that the scapula bone is actually from the North Atlantic right whale - Wikipedia which is a critically endangered species has increased its resonance for us as a community committed to nature recovery.
Since I have only recently realised that the walrus is of IUCN vulnerable status Walrus - Wikipedia I therefore think we have some interesting movement here on building local centred nature stories about species in a global context.
Please do what you can to help our community discover the story of the whalebone. I will incorporate this live story into both Perry Trail (which ‘sees’ the walrus twice) and the ongoing development of Bring the World to Forest Hill. Thank you
I should ‘apply the brakes’ with the narrative that the whale bone was dug up. I am repeating the legend without knowing what type of evidence gives this claim veracity. Because that’s a history topic I will leave that discussion to a canal topic when we create it.
What this topic surfaces is this idea of a periphery around SE23, a threshold which speaks to our need to impose order on the world through categorisation. I think this particular instance is resonant to me as a psychogeographer because it is about boundaries and perception of the tenuous.
I’ll take the risk of being a pratt (a jester would be better) by using one of my collection of weird and wonderful words, and that word is deixis.
Our perception of proximity/locality (and temporality) in relation to the self is called deixis.
I love these types of unusual words and the special way they can unlock entry into discussions which are like rooms that only admit the speaker of the magic word(s). A kind of open sesame word so to say.
Thanks for sharing the Just Giving Link. We will be giving at the Telegraph Hill Festival on Monday 23rd March. It’s £5 entry and this goes towards the restoration. It’s been fascinating finding out its history and details about the whaling trade at the time. Details of the talk are here: