HUG at Ham Parade Market

Ham United Group (HUG) do a lot of good work in the area through a range of disparate projects and it was good to see them at Ham Parade Market being at the heart of the community and encouraging more people to get involved.

Coloured squares

This window of coloured squares is both appealing and surprising. It is just a shame that it is cleverly hidden on a side wall of a house at the far end of a no-through-road (Martingales Close).

Road Closed

Petersham Road was blocked overnight between Ham Common and Sandy Lane while what looked like work on the water system was being done.

This was clearly a surprise to many motorists who ignored the Road Closed Ahead signs and tried to go along Petersham Road only to be forced into doing u-turns; this was happening on both side of the closed section.

The Hand and Flower opening 5 November

The news that The Hand and Flower would be opening again on 5 November has been online for a while and now it has been confirmed by a banner outside of the pub. And the pub has changed a little for the better since my previous posting with some repairing and painting of the frontage, particularly the windows to the front bar.

Sudbrook Cottage and Sudbrooke Cottages

This sign, while distinctly charming, is not the sign that I was looking for, though it does tell half the story.

I had always assumed that the terrance of cottages close to Ormeley Lodge on Ham Gate Avenue were called Sudbrook Cottages and the end one (made famous by Beverly Nichols) was, as the sign proclaims, Sudbrook Cottage but the Royal Mail Postcode Finder tells another story. That tells me that the other cotttages are called Sudbrooke Cottages, with an "e". The Royal Mail is the one source of truth on addresses so this must be true.

Smashing pumpkins

Halloween is a justifiable excuse for some flamboyant decorations and these are some of the very best on show this year.

A large tree is coming down

The mature tree on the junction of Dukes Avenue and Broughton Avenue is coming down. While this is obviously sad I am happy to accept that the experts know what they are doing. It is a big tree on a busy junction and if it did fall down then it could be quite disruptive, and dangerous.

 

The fungi growing from the base of the tree are a symptom of its poor health.

 

When the tree comes down, so will these shoes.

LV15 XLC

Dartboard

I do not expect to see children playing in the street with hoops any more and I did not expect them to be playing darts either. The large wooden gate makes this a safe place to play though the owner of the gate might not be as impressed with the idea.

This unexpected game can be played at the very far end of Martingales Close, far away from all but the most determined to prying eyes.