Largest Santa?

There has been the usual wide variety of festive decorations this year and I suspect that this Santa in Maguire Drive is the largest.

Cupola repairs

The former stables for Ham House are always attractive because of their design and detail and on this day I also appreciated the colour of the tree, the structure of the scaffolding and the drama of the bright sunlight.

Tree maintenance

Quite a bit of work was done in the last year or two to trees by the towpath alongside Burnell Avenue Open Space and a little bit more has just been done with the thinning out of one small clump.

Extension iin Buckingham Road

This was meant to be one of those posts about a construction project hidden behind sheeting where I speculate about what might be to come but by the time I got around to posting this "before" picture the "after" had already been revealed!

The revealed extension fits in quite well with the original house and neighbours thanks to the careful choice of bricks. The grey windows do mot match though, and they rather spoil an otherwise good job,

Jolly window

Perhaps it was because of the extraordinarily long run-up or the unseasonally warm weather but Christmas seemed to lack some of its usual fizz this year ao it was good to have this jolly window in Ham Parade to mark the festive season.

Chipped path

The footpath that was created about a year ago along Church Road, past the Richmond Chase development, has been made more substantial, and obvious, with the addition of wood chippings.

Cherry Garden at Ham House

The brief winter sunlight was as kind to the Cherry Garden at Ham House as it was to the house itself.

Silent Space

The Cherry Garden at Ham House, filled with lavender and santolina. has been designated a Silent Space.

Ham House in winter sun

A rare sunny day allowed the south side of Ham House to look its very best.

Cavan Bakery coming to Ham Parade

Cavan Bakery coming to Ham Parade reusing the unit that used to be Le Look Image and replacing the service that was provided by Rowleys.

Cavan will be familiar to many people as they have shops just across the river in Teddington and others further afield in West London. I worked in Teddington for a couple of years and Cavan was my regular lunchtime stop and I look forward to renewing that relationship in Ham.

b.t.w. The way this blog works is that I usually write the entries some time after the photos are taken and they get published some time after that and so, if you read this regularly, you will see me apparently commenting on the unit being prepared after we know what is coming. News can age quickly!

Changes at the former Le Look Image

Le Look Image was on Ham Parade for just over thirty years and when the owners retired in April 2025 the unit was left empty for several months but now it looks as though it may be coming back into life as the careful dismantling starts.

Steel supports

The scale of the work being done to Launch Lock can be seen by the number and size of the steel supports that cross the lock.

Teddington Lock in context

I took this picture to capture the delightful jumble of the maintenance works at Teddington Lock and was pleased to also get the equally delightful jumble of the Wharf development behind it and the still reflective river in front.

Border planted

As expected, the border to the little patch of green in the corner where Ham Farm Road meets Parkleys has been planted. Previously a line of fir trees stood here and the new varied planting is a welcome improvement.

Appreciating Ham Close

The exterior of the first block of the new Ham Close has been revealed and there is a lot to like, particularly the way that the frontage is broken up with recesses, balconies and a band of stone below the upper level.

Not obvious in this light, the bricks in the middle section are slightly lighter which is another good design feature.

And the windows are white with horizontal and vertical bars.

Approaching the new Ham Close

With most of the scaffolding gone from the first blocks of the new Ham Close it is possible to start to see how the development will fit into its surroundings, and so far it kooks good.

This is the view looking east along Woodville Road. Here the trees do a decent job of hiding the block even devoid of leaves and what can be seen looks fine too.

Walking past and looking west the new block has the much the same shape and scale as the old one. Any fears that the new development would oppressively dominate Woodville Road have been shown to be unfounded.

Garage conversion

Many of the houses in Royal Park Gate have had their garages converted into living accommodation over the years and this time I caught the work in progress with the new windows in place and the old garage door waiting to be disposed of.