Standing out

This refurbishment in Martingales Road is all but finished and to me it looks like one of those Spot 5 Things Wrong With This Picture puzzles. 

The removal of the hoardings has exposed the most obvious of the wrong things, the weatherboarding is brown when it should be white in the character of the street.

Wall down

50 Sandy Lane used to have a front wall and something of an arch over the driveway and all that remains is two rows of bricks alongside the pavement. 

I actually quite like the idea of a hedge rather than a wall but I suspect that there will be a new wall instead.

Scaffolding returns

The extensive work on the house on the corner of Lock Road and Back Lane finished last autumn so I was surprised to see scaffolding return so quickly.

Crossing Ham Village Green

The hoardings around the emerging community centre on Ham Village Green have been blocking one of the two paths crossing the Green for several months and while this has not been that much of a problem thanks to the almost complete lack of rain, it is good to see a new path connecting to Ashburnham Road.

Rowleys Bakery is now closed

I have literally bought thousands of loaves of bread from Rowleys on Ham Parade over the years, plus lots of mince pies and hot cross buns, so it has come as something as a shock to read this notice to say that they have closed suddenly.

With hindsight there have been signs with recent short-term closures for things like no flour, but it is still a shock.

Of course this may prove to be another temporary closure or somebody else might move in and make use of the ovens. I can but hope.

Copse boundary

I am still unsure what is happening to the former Strathmore site on Meadlands Drive (but I am not interested enough to find out) and while what is going on in the site is a mystery the new boundary fence is not.

It is a nice fence too and well suited to the location. At the moment it is slightly obscured by the temporary barriers and there is little vegetation in front of it so it will look even better soon.

Lovely lavender

The lavender in Cherry Garden at Ham House goes through a cycle over several years as it grows, gets cut back and grows again and it looks its best when its growth is at, or near, its peak.

More wall repairs

Possibly inspired by the impressive wall works at its neighbour, Stokes House in Ham Street, Bench House is undertaking some wall repairs of its own.

Hedge removed

The area alongside Albany Court in Ashburnham Road is looking very stark, harsh even, with the removal of the hedge that used to be there.

Major project

These works in Sudbrook Gardens look more substantial than they did when I first posted a picture of them in March and there is further evidence of the increased scale with the removal of the lintel above the gate.

LG69 SYJ

Woodville Road closed

Woodville Road is closed for a couple of days to accommodate a very large crane that is lifting stuff  into the Ham Close redevelopment.

Wall work completed

Now that it is finished, I will almost miss checking up on progress on the wall to Stokes House in Ham Street as it has been a pleasure watching the painstaking work being done well. The compensation is that the completed wall is a delight.

I also like that it does not look brand new, even though it is.

TPOs

Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) have been requested for all of the mature trees in the section of Wates Estate along Riverside Drive indicated in the map. 

I guess it is in response to the recent sale of several such plots of land across Wates Estate though it does also pose the question as to why TPOs were not requested earlier. 

Incidentaly, I had a less that helpful discussion with Richmond Council Tree Section on the subkect of TPOs a few years ago when I was looking to see if there was suffiecient protection for trees in Ham and I was told "here is not a list of TPO’s available that is accessible to the public". I noted at the time that Kingston Council has an online Map of Tree Preservation Orders.

Raised panels

Generally I like to see solar panels on roofs though I was a little surprised these in Buckingham Road raised above the roofline so that they are very visible from the road. They could also prove to be an attractive place for pigeons, as mine were when I first installed them!

Two signs

The signs at the entrance to this footpath off River Lane have changed and been added to over recent years and, somehow, I had missed posting the one to Rosebank before.

Flowery shed

This flowery shed brightens up every walk I take along Ashburnham Road.

Bridge repaired

I posted a picture of this bridge connecting Douglas Footpath to the towpath when it was closed for repairs and those repairs have now been done leaving only a change in colour as evidence.

Two times 16

Sixteen Sandy Lane wants you to be sure that this is number sisxteen so it has the house number on both gate posts.

Roof timbers

It is hard to monitor progress on Little Cottage, on the south-east corner of Sudbrook Lane and Bute Avenue, because there are no gaps in the hoardings and I have not been lucky in catching the gate open so the only visible area is the roof so I was plad to catch some action in that area with roof timbers being added to the metal frame.

Butterflies

I really like the way that the decorations on this post are refreshed periodically, this time with butterflies.