Cropped fence

I like to think that I can claim some credit when things I have criticised get better, and this is an example of that.

About a month ago I complained about an oddly tall fence in Maguire Drive and now it has been reduced in height to become normal. The height of one of the concrete pillars on the left, and the rough finish of the tops of the pillars along the front, suggest that the height reduction was an after-thought. It was an after-thought worth having.

The Dysart Petersham

I am old enough to remember when The Dysart Petersham was a pub called The Dysart Arms.

In those days it was a welcome sight when approaching Dysart Gate from Ham and it was difficult to resist the temptation to cross the road and have I pint. I often gave in to that temptation.

Its transition from a local pub to an up-market restaurant has included a screen of trees across the front so that the previous view has gone, as has the possibility of a pint. Also gone is all branding from the front of the building.

More house, less tree

I took a similar photo to this one just a day or two earlier, to capture the growing extension slightly side-on where more of it could be seen than from the front where the hoardings do a good job of hiding it, but before I could post it the trees along the front were cut back massively so I took another one.

My guess is that the trees are going (few people will complain about that) and there will be a new higher wall instead. If it looks like the one on the right belonging to the property next door then I, for one, will be happy.

Not Croftway

For reasons that do not matter I was recently in a conversation with colleagues on the correct name for Croft Way. The confusion was caused by this street sign which gives its name as Croftway, just one word. 

It is indeed Croft Way and we checked various maps, the post office and Richmond Council to confirm this.

The Local in Ham Street

I have only lived here for something just over twenty years so I do not know the full history of The Local in Ham Street but it was definitely Ham Village Store previously and I believe that it was Dunkley's before that so the new signage has both the new name and old ones. 

It is also a very smart and contemporary sign. I love it.

The new look Fox and Duck

As someone who has been known to go to the pub occasionally (!) I have had little good news locally in the fourteen years that I been doing this blog so I am absolutely delighted with what is happening to The Fox and Duck.

I liked the old pub, and went there regularly for the music, but I accept that put me in a minority and to survive the pub needed to attract a wider group of people. The new owners are doing just that.

I took these photos of the new front area at around 10am when I popped in for a coffee and a nose around. All the other times that I have gone there, or passed on the bus, this area has been busy, as has the surprisingly large inside.

Window box

I always walk along Petersham Road with mixed feelings as the awfulness of the traffic on one side is balanced by the interesting houses on the other. On this walk the interesting houses won thanks to this delightful window box.

Ben Forrest has a van

I have seen many small 3-wheel vans in Paris but not so many here, so this one was definitely worth a photograph. It is also nicely decorated, which you would probably expect from a shop that deals in looking good.

A minor point; the branding here has "Ben Forrest" as two separate words whereas the shop concatenates them into one.