Cricket on the Common

Cricket is a welcome addition to the Common in the Summer and while I have never watched a whole game I will usually pause and watch an over or two when I walk by, taking great care not to walk behind the bowler as I do so.

Gardens at St. Michael's Convent

St. Michael's Convent will be moving away from its Ham Common home in a year or two so I took advantage of an open garden day to have a good look around and to take lots of pictures. Here are just a few that try to show the size and shape of the gardens.

One of the main features is the orchard. This lies just beyond the large lawn at the back of the house.

 To one side of the lawn, hidden behind a tall brick wall, is a kitchen garden. Here there are vegetables, some flowers and a couple of greenhouses.

The lawn sits behind the house and is massive. This is the view looking across it sideways with the house off to the left and the orchard just peeping above the hedge on the right.

Moving to the back of the previous picture and turning right put the house behind me and a pretty border on the left. In the background are some of the trees that define the back of the garden.

Wisteria and windows

There is much that I like about this picture, which is why I took it. The house is pretty enough with its large regular windows, tidy brickwork and clean white frontage and the wisteria both respects and enhances it.

Ham Fair 2014

There was good weather for Ham Fair this year which helped to make it a great day out. I went twice, once to look around and the second to help on the HUG stall. I also judged the children's photography competition for HAG on my first visit.

The layout was ever so slightly different this year but it was essentially the same as in precious years. Why change a successful formula?

The Ham community stalls were clustered together which I found worked well as there were a lot of connections between us.

Brightening up Back Lane

All it takes to transform a drab corner is a lick of colourful paint and a few plants. This change adds a little bit of jollity to the walk along Back Lane.

Party fireworks on the river

It was a happy coincidence that I was walking over the footbridge from Teddington this evening just as a party on one of the houseboats moored on the Ham bank launched a few fireworks.

Galloping horseman

I discovered this weathervane during my visit to Woodbine Cottage during Petersham Open Gardens 2014. It was perched neatly on the house next door on the north side.

Ham Close

Ham Close is another part of Ham whose future is the subject of some speculation which prompted me to record it before it changes.

I like this view of the Close across the Green with Ham Street behind me. This is probably the sort of view the architects had in mind when they designed it.