Stables at Ham Polo

The Ham United Group (HUG) Annual Architectural Tour 2026 of Ham Polo Club was a fabulous event where I learned many unexpected things about a place I have walked past hundreds of times. One of those things was that there are around one hundred horses stabled there and this is just one of the blocks of stables where they are kept.

While we there we saw several horses out doing things and behind the scenes it is a busy place. Looking after all those horses are a dozen or so grooms who live on the site.

Greenery and flowers on Ham Lands

The weather station at Kew Gardens recorded zero rain in July for the first time since it started operating 155 years ago, and this shows in the acres of yellow grass that can be seen everywhere. Luckily we still have greenery and flowers in some places in Ham and especially in Ham Lands.

This view brightens up the main crossing from Teddington Lock to Croft Way.

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.