Peckham Peculiar

The other day, one colleague shouted to another, ‘Did you know Ros doesn’t have an Oyster card?’

‘How does she get on the tube?’ the other replied.

‘She has a little paper card that she actually puts through the machines!’ There was much hilarity that this service still existed, or had ever been thought of in the first place, never mind that someone under 75 still did it. What can I say…

When it comes to work I have written for and edited magazines and newspaper sections for 15 years, and though I love the immediacy and democracy of writing on the web, my old-school, inky self also feels sad at the fast-approaching loss of paper and print. That’s why I’m bringing you this little preview of a brave start-up bucking the trend.

Peckham Peculiar launch

The Peckham Peculiar is designed to be a ‘hyper-local’ paper, distributed for free, on your actual wood-pulp, six times a year. Run by three journalists and funded initially on Kickstarter, editor Mark McGinlay recently told the Press Gazette, “While social media is a great way of engaging with the local community, not everyone is online. We want our paper to be as inclusive as possible and accessible to all.”

Peckham local newspaper

Peckham Peculiar launches on 21 January 2014, but until then, or if you don’t happen to live within spitting distance of Ezekiel’s nightclub, SE15, then keep up with progress on their facebook page. Rather sweetly they’ve highlighted there another hyper-local Peckham periodical, this one started in January 1914 (above).

One Response to “Peckham Peculiar”

  1. Helene
    January 8, 2014 at 2:55 pm #

    Great. Let’s hope it will be a trend.

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