Replacement fence

This new fence in Buckingham Road is a like for like replacement except that, being new, it is a bright yellow rather than a weathered mix of greys and greens. A rather neat hedge above the fence has been replaced by curved trellising which already has some vegetation growing up and through it. 

Stone post

Motorists are deterred from driving over the muddy strip of land on the south side (this counts as provision for pedestrians) by a range of barriers varying from large tree trunks to this small stone post that once helped to mark the entrance to Latchmere House.

43 Lammas Road revealed

I wondered what was going on behind the hoardings at 43 Lammas Road and now they have gone and the remarkably unremarkable house is revealed. It is unremarkable because it looks much like the other houses in the street and that is remarkable because the windows are a welcome white rather than grey.

Yellow frame

The Little Cottage site, on the south-east corner of Sudbrook Lane and Bute Avenue, has been hidden behind hoardings for several months but no longer as the frame of the new house busts into view in a surprising display of yellow metal.

Community Kitchen Garden sign replaced

Only a few weeks ago I posted a picture of the sign for the Community Kitchen Garden in Back Lane only to notice shortly afterwards that it had gone. The reason for its disapearance became clear when two supports for climbing plants appeared in the place it had been.

Tatty boat

It has been some time since I posted a picture of a boat that was not sinking and while this boat is attractively tatty, almost to a state of dereliction, it is still floating.

Ham Library this way

The positioning of this sign is unusual for two reasons; firstly it is very high up, too high to be readily seen by anyone passing by, and secondly it across the road from the Library which is much easier to spot than the sign is.

Easter pole

This is the third time that I have featured this pole; first it was decorated with Little Ponies, then it was Christmassy and now it is dressed with eggs for Easter.

Facing the shops

A new bench has been placed at the south end of Ham Parade, on Tudor Drive, and it looks across the small green to the shops whereas the bench adjacent to it offers a fine veiw of the traffic.

Clearing a raft

The raft that arrived at the moorings by Teddington Lock late last year has been moved to the other side of the bridge where it is being cleared piece by piece.

Fenced off

A few sections of greenery around the paths to Teddington Lock Footbridge have been fenced off. These were damaged by the construction site for the recent bridge repairs so they may just be there to keep people off while the vegetation recovers or there just may be some new planting on the way. 

There are deliberate gaps in some of the fences which suggest that someone still needs access to do something and planting is a reasonable bet.

No signs

The Gate House on Upper Ham Road (the top end of Ham Parade) is looking a lot better without all the gaudy signs associated with its last use, though there is still a plaque for Shockwave Clinics, a previous role.

It does worry me slightly that some of the fixings used for the signs have been left and were sometimes drilled into brick rather than mortar; one can be replace but the other cannot.

Looking less like a pub

The former Royal Oak / Ham Institute on Ham Street looks a little less like a pub now that the frontage has been rendered and the windows replaced. It is only a little less though and like so many corner buildings across London it reveals its public house history in just a casual glance.

The Hive in context

Now that the scaffolding has come down from The Hive (the new community centre being built on Ham Village Green) its bulk can be judged and it looks big. and from this angle it loks significantly larger than the buildings near to it. 

 

From the Green it dwarfs the shops and flats behind it.

The bulk is something of a shock but I am hoping that is partially because of its newness and once the shock has passed it become just another building. It is, after all, smaller than the existing and planned blocks of flats on the other side of the Green in Ham Close.

Lock Road leak

Ironically, the leak that is flooding a section of Lock Road originates at the spur that goes to the pumbing station, so Thames Water really should know about it.

Beaufort Court signs

I do not know why Beaufort Court thinks it needs such large signs but they are attractive and effective so I have no complaints.

 

Elsewhere there are older signs which have less impact but more charm.

There are good arguments for both styles and I am glad that they have kept the old ones when adding the new ones. It is an interesting history of signage on one building.

Broken post

Well, that did not take long!

Only a few days (hours?) after the new posts were put in at the southern end of Great South Avenue to try to keep cars parking their to access the area properly and one has been demolished. It was one of the most visible ones too.

New posts

I have always thought that the view across Ham Common towards Ham House was ruined by the cars parked at the southern end of Great South Avenue and that area has been made by inconsiderate driving and parking. Nothing is being done about the ugly view but an attempt is being made to keep the cars in their place with a set of posts.

Black balcony at Stokes House

One of the finishing touches to the extensive refurbishment of Stokes House in Ham Street is the return of this balcony which is now black when it used to be a light blue.

Skip and barrier

The signs of construction always interest me both because of all the mess that goes with the work and also because of the expectation of change. I will be revisiting this house in Buckingham Road to see what those changes are.

Mixed news

Several of the houses in this style have extended the front slightly by leaving all of the bay intact while extending the front of the window across to the porch. Here the approach is different and the side of the bay has been removed and incorporated into the house. It is more work but it looks the same, i.e. there is a half-bay, so there are no problems there.

The problem is the windows, they just do not fit in. The windows in all the neighbouring houses have glazing bars and without them this house looks odd.

See-through house

While 2 Ashfield Close goes though an extensive renovation and so is devoid of blinds and curtains, it is possible to see right through it from Meadow Close.

New door

The building on the corner of Ham Street and Sandy Lane that used to be a pub, The Royal Oak, has gained a new door onto Sandy Lane as part of its conversion into a house.

Two traffic islands

The two new traffic islands in Riverside Drive have been fully completed and are so new that the keep left signs are still in place.

Against my expectations formed during their construction, the two islands look identical which obviously makes sense.

Canopy

As part of the conversion of the former Ham Brewery Tap into Ivy House Full Day Care Nursery, a canopy has been constructed on the south side of the building.

Clearing in Ham Common Woods

Apologies for the weak pun but this is both a clearing in Ham Common Woods (in the south east corner) and evidence that clearing work has been done there. There is a collection of small stumps in the foreground and a few larger ones between the two large trees still standing.

A new look for Jaflong

Jaflong in Ashburnham Road has had a major revamp most of which is inside so I cannot show you that, however, it was the external change that alerted me with the grey frontage becoming black, and I can show you that.

Sometime over the years the shop sign changed too, from what it was in 2008, but I failed to record that change at the time, despite visiting there regularly to get a Vegetable Ceylon.