Cottages in Wiggins Lane

Wiggins Lane tries to keep itself private by hiding behind Ham Street and by not going anywhere but the attractive cottages there mean that I walk along there quite often.

Pointers Cottages is the row of cottages along side that footpath that  continues on to Stretton Road while the road turns towards Woodville Road. The sign that announces them is clearly visible and, judging by the square font, quite old.

The  cottages themselves are always pretty with their white walls, colourful woodwork and thick foliage.

Wiggins Cottages are toward the Ham Street end of the road and are set slightly further back. Their sign is a lot harder to find and looks a lot newer.

Bright paving on Petersham Road

I am sure that it will weather to a darker hue but while it is young the new paving along Petersham Road is strikingly bright.

Something is wrong in Petersham Road

One by one it seems that all of the Mock-Tudor house that lie in the stretch of Petersham Road south of Sandy Lane are being modernised. In most cases the garages were included in to the house some years ago and the current spate of enhancements are enlarging the houses even further. Often this means going upwards.

In every case but one the remodelling of the roof has kept the original style (above) with thick terracotta tiles and jagged ridges.

The one exception is this work-in-progress. The colour is more or less in keeping with its neighbours but the thin slates produce a very different pattern and the ridges have no pattern at all.

As a result the house shouts out its difference as you walk past and that section of the road looks slightly less grand than it did.

Exotic plants in Woodville Road

I have admired this garden in Woodville Road for some time and it has taken me far too long to finally get around to taking a photo of it. It belongs to one of the few houses in Woodville Road at the west end of the road that are part of the Wates Estate and it gives me a boost every time that I walk past it.

More bold art by Ham Village Green

Ham Village Green is gradually being surrounded by bold colourful art, and I like it.

First there was the mural on the Ashburnham Road end of the shops, then the Ham Youth Centre joined in and now the other end of the parade of shops has been brightened up with the addition of a tree, some flowers, a butterfly, a bird and a few bees.

Wild garden in Burnell Avenue

I walk in the area around Teddington Lock regularly and usually this means going along the tow path as that is the prettiest route but I also like to explore all the highways and byways in Ham and so I also walk along Burnell Avenue from time to time.

I find it something of an odd road as almost every house has been extended or changed differently and so it lacks coherence and with house on only one side of the road it lacks something of a sense of place too.

Among the jumble of houses is this one where the front garden has been allowed to grow even more wild than mine.

Vintage Wedding Dresses has arrived

The lone shop at the top end of Ham Parade has now been taken over by Vintage Wedding Dresses. In an attempt to improve its visibility the shop has gone for an unusual split pink/grey colour scheme with the two colours clashing down the centre of the door. I like it and I hope that it works for them.

Autumn brings reds to Ham

I might as well give up on giving up on taking Autumnal pictures as every year I end up taking several despite my best intentions not too. This year though I have managed to temper my picture taking a little and selected just three taken during a short walk to sum up the mood and the colour of the season.

Langham House gets featured, not for the first time, because of its wonderful ivy.

Venturing along Ham Street these reds and greens demanded my attention because of the way that they were presented against a plain mottled background.

Further along the road and then off to the side to walk behind Beaufort House, I found a wall of leaves that were each choosing their own time to change producing a mix of colours from light green to dark red.

Princess Alice Hospice shop on Ham Parade

This was Giftbox for almost forever and then was empty for a while and now it is a Princess Alice Hospice shop.

I have mixed feelings about this. Almost any shop is better than an empty space but I miss Giftbox and we already have one charity shop just  few doors up the Parade. This is not  shop that I expect to visit, whereas Giftbox was, so it is dead-zone to me, as are the estate agents and bookies. These places bring some colour to the Parade but not much life.