Behind Ham House

I have said many times (possibly too many times) that I much prefer the garden side of Ham House to the river side which I find too cluttered and messy. In these two pictures I will try to show why.

The beauty of the back of the house is in its symmetry and proportions. It is an impressive array of large windows carefully placed to admire the garden from combined with just enough bricks to keep them in place.

The terrace across the back of the house matches its simplicity and grandeur. It is a lovely place to walk especially when the sun is shining as it was on this day.

New bench at Teddington Lock

Despite there being only one way on and off the artificial island at Teddington Lock, or perhaps it is because of that, it is a popular destination because of the views it gives of the river and the locks and the attractive gardens.

To encourage people to linger a while there are a number of benches spread across the island and I like this new one because of its traditional look and subtle decoration.

The centrepiece of the decoration is the Environment Agency logo in the frame of the seat. A nice touch.

Langham House gets a refresh

Langham House has had a bit of a refresh over the Summer and was covered with scaffolding for several weeks. Most of the work was on the roof but the whole house was seen to and the most obvious thing was the repainting of everything white at the front of the house.

Langham House has long been one of my favourites and this refresh has ensured that it will stay that way for a few more years yet.

Walking through Ham Lands

Possibly the best thing about my new job is that it gives me the excuse to walk across Ham Lands most mornings on the way to work. I usually cut across from Croft Way to Teddington Lock, a well trod path, which takes me through a mix of environments from grasslands to woodlands.

I do not know very much about the plants that I pass other than I like the way that they look and the way that they exist alongside an urban area. With Riverside Drive behind me it is soon easy to lose sight of anything man-made.

Ham Lands looks wild in a way that Richmond Park never does, mostly because there are far fewer people there and those that go to Richmond Park leave obvious marks.

Another visit to Ham House

I go to Ham House fairly regularly because there is plenty to enjoy there and as a member of the National Trust it costs me nothing on the day. I usually pop-in as part of a longer walk and just walk around the gardens for a few minutes then continue on my way.

I think that in all my visits this was the first time that I succumbed to the all too obvious temptation to take a picture of the lavender garden through the hedge that surrounds it.

On the other hand I had taken many pictures of the cute summer houses in The Wilderness but that did not stop me from taking another one.

The Wilderness is my favourite part of the garden as it is the wildest section and the wildest parts of it are the few uncultivated segments made by the geometrically arranged hedges.

One of the other wilderness areas was next to the house but this was being tamed too. There were just a few pots and a mown path there on that visit, plus the promise of more to come.

I am not a fan of the entrance to the house and it took some effort to conjure something that I felt was interesting. I think that it was worth that effort though.

Preparing the entrance to the Huf House

To be honest, I thought that I would have stopped featuring work on the new Huf House in Ham Street by now as I was expecting it to have finished but it is still in progress, I still walk past it regularly and I still take photos of it.

My main motive for taking this one was because I liked all the clutter associated with the construction, such as the mixer and the skip, and even the portable loos. They all add interest and colour to the scene, much as in Tracey Emin's famous work My Bed.

What I liked less was the black tarmac drive which is featureless. I was expecting patterned brick. Perhaps there is more to come. I'll wait and see.

Neville Barbers

I had been trying to take a decent photo of Neville Barbers for some time (by decent I mean one with no cars in the way) and finally I managed it. Walking down Ham Street every morning on the way to work helped.

It is always good to see an empty shop come back to life and Neville Barbers has done more than that with a decidedly smart looking frontage and what you can see of the interior looks smart too.

Cave Road flats almost completed

This is the face that the new flats in Cave Road present to Riverside Drive and is the view that many people will see as they come along the path from Teddington Lock. It is not a particularly exciting view but it not that bad either. On the whole I approve.

The flats are designed to face almost due south, which is towards the right, and I'll take a shot from that angle once the work there has finished.

Gascoigne-Pees has closed

Only a few months after another estate agent moved into Ham Parade, making it four altogether, Gascoigne-Peas has called it a day. It's a start. Whatever replaces it will be better.