Signs of progress in Ashfield Close

On a previous visit to Ashfield Close, back in July, work was only just starting on this house and now it is well underway. The sheeting hides some of the detail but, luckily for the curious, there is still enough to see to make the walk down the no-through-road worth the effort.

The most obvious changes are that the garages have gone and the wooden boards on the right side of the house have been removed.

Temporary path

While the work being done on this house in Mariner Gardens is largely obscured by trees a temporary path across the grass confirms that something interesting is going on.

Dukes Avenue closed for the day

I am trying to imagine what closing Dukes Avenue for a day is going to do for traffic in the area, though as a walker this has lttile direct impact on me. 

I note that when Dukes Avenue was last resurfaced in 2014 it was done over two nights, rather than during the day, precisely to avoid traffic problems. I am sure there is a good reason why Richmond Council is taking a different approach this time.

Making movies

There was more filming taking place at Ham House recently and all of the support vehicles were assembled in a corner of the Ham Polo site, next to the horse training field.

It was late in the day when I went past and someone was putting up lights to guide people walking between there and Ham House.

Crane

A problem with building a row of terrace houses without any rear access is that when you need something done at the back, such as an extension, then everything has to go either through the house or over it. Here someone in Yeovilton Place has chosen to go over it.

The houses in the foreground are in Northweald Lane.

Spelling mistake

Even I know it is spelled "Plumbing".

Christmas starts very early

The small Christmas display on the automatic door to Sainsbury's on Ham Parade is rather cute so I am happy to post it here, despite it being ridiculously early.

Putting up some lights

I do a lot of my walking late at night which means that the streets ate quite but there is less to see so it was a pleasant surprise when walking along Ham Prade at 11:30pm to see someone in the process of putting the winter lights up above the shops on the west side. 

b.t.w. I call them "winter lights" rather than "Christmas lights" because 21 November is a long way before the Christmas holiday. I grew up with Christmas starting on Chrismas Eve, that is when the tree went up and the presents were bought, and I am too old to change now.

HIgh tide by Ham Street

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It was all down to luck, I stopped checking the tide tables some years ago, that I arrived at the end of Ham Street as the water ws lapping up againgst the towpath. I suspect that it had been a little higher just before that and the path may even have been impassible, as it always is with a high tide.

The view looks natural enough but anyone familiar with the area, which is almost everyone in Ham, will realise that the high river has claimed a lot of land and a large concrete structure.

 

Looking the other way, downstream, The trees look dramatically out of place surrounded by water.

 

And to show just how far the water had come in, the emergency throwbag was out of range and so of little use.