Arena Polo

Wikipedia tells me, "Outdoor or "field" polo is played on a 300-by-160-yard grass field, while indoor or "arena" polo is played on a smaller 300-by-150-foot dirt arena." and it was on the Ham United Group (HUG) Annual Architectural Tour 2026 that I learned of the existence of Arena Polo and that Ham Polo has this arena in the north-east corner of their grounds.

On the border

Borders are often problematic, and the Richmond/Kingston border in Ham is no different. The last boundary changes improved matters but still left us with Sainsbury on Ham Parade calling itself "Kingston Upper Ham Road Local" because it has a KT2 postcode, and the boundary extending down Duke's Avenue so that is can include Malden Oaks.

The latest issue is caused by Richmond Council's decision to stop allowing Lime bikes into the Borough, leading to collections of bikes on the Kingston side of the border as riders discover that they can go no further. The most obvious places for the bikes to collect are on the towpath and on Richmond Road but the problem stretches to places like Horsley Drive in Royal Park Gate.

Tall fence

The small development of House in Kestrel Close and Dukes Avenue were built around thirty years and for all that time the low timber fences have been a prominent feature so the decision of 27 to build something substantial and solid is bit of a surprise.

The Hand & Flower

Firstly, an explanation. I had to crop this photo because the lower part had a reflection of me in it and I could not take another one as this moment has past.

The reason for my keenness to post this is because it shows part of an older sign, now painted over, where the name includes an ampersand. I do not know when that got replaced with "and" but all the photos here going back to 2007 have "and" rather than "&".

Ham House

The final picture from my most recent visit to Ham House is my favourite, which is the view of the back of the house. Always wonderful, the view this time is enhanced by the planting before and on the terrace.

Extensive work on Hand and Flower

The coming soon poster for The Hand and Flower says "beautiful refurbishment underway" and the initial signs are good. When the pub was last refurbished in 2022 that amounted to little more than a fresh coat of paint and it quickly looked shabby, so it is good to see them doing the job properly and going back to the brick.

Draining the lock

The Launch Lock at Teddington Lock is still in the middle of some serious reconstruction work, as it has been since the end of last year, and there is little sign of the work ending any time soon. I wanted to post an update and with everything looking much the same I used the excuse of the lock being drained through the pipe on the left.

Former cricket pavilion

We learned a lot about the history of Ham Polo Club and of their current site on the Ham United Group (HUG) Annual Architectural Tour 2026, including that the section of the their ground nearest the river, and behind their club house, used to be a cricket ground and this rather charming pavilion dates from those days.

New entrance to Little Orchard

The is the new entrance to the rebuilt Little Cottage from Bute Avenue. While not remarkable in itself it is markedly different from the previous entrance which was a gate with railings set back from the road with hedges on either side.

The new solid gate and the lack of greenery in front of the wall makes this a more austere and less welcoming entrance.