Old door

This door goes from Melancholy Walk in to the back of The Palm Centre in Ham Street. I am not sure if it is used very often, or at all, but it has a new bright-blue padlock which adds a delightful splash of newness and colour to contrast the old and faded door.

Modern House in Ham Farm Road

This is one of my very favourite houses in Ham. It lurks in Ham Farm Road where it tries to bury itself in Ham Common Woods. I took a picture of it last year but this time there was no car in front of the garage so I was able to get more of the front of the house in the shot.

The Copse from Meadlands Drive

Most of Meadlands Drive fronts directly onto The Copse with no houses on the other side of the road to break the view. From there you can walk to the river without going near a road.

Pillar at Ormeley Lodge

This brick pillar in the front wall at Ormeley Lodge is well worth a close-up.

Petersham Lock-up

This shed-like building next to the Fox and Duck in Petersham Road was a Watchman's Hut with a Lock-up to hold people until the police could get there. It has been restored as part of the development of a small close of houses in what was part of the Montrose House estate.

Digging a hole

Three large vehicles were being used for these works on the junction of Dukes Avenue and Dysart Avenue, starting with a large hole behind the blue barrier. I guess it's part of the traffic calming measures but it seems like a lot of construction for just a raised pedestrian crossing.

Decorative door frame

I had to sneak into the neighbouring garden to take this close-up of a decorative door frame in Petersham Road, but I think that the risk was worth it. This is one of the neat terrace of sunken cottages on the main road opposite Sudbrook Gardens.

Topiary in New Road

A slow walk along New Road always delights as there is much to see there, such as this little bush that has been fashioned into the shape of a bird - it looks like a robin to me.

A touch of Gothic in Sandpits Road

This house is on the junction of Sandpits Road and Petersham Road and while it looks quite attractive from the front it is the back of the house that I find more interesting because of the Gothic turret.

Threshers goes blue

Threshers used to be red, but now it is turning blue.

More building at the Cassel Hospital?

This is the right end of the Cassel Hospital site, well away from the main building which is (now) at the left edge of the site as you look from Ham Common. This area has been left to grow wild but the recent addition of a fence alongside the hospital building suggests that this part of the site may also be redeveloped as housing.

Cat above the door

There are fake cats littered all over Ham and if this was Torchwood I would expect them all to come alive suddenly and take control. This one lives in Craig Road.

Pavement works in Meadlands Drive

The Spring rush of highways works includes replacing the pavement in Meadlands Drive. Here you can also see another grassy area that reinforces the overall perception of Ham that it is a few houses struggling for space against overwhelming masses of trees, shrubs, flowers and grasses.

Brick wall at Ormeley Lodge

I am pleased to see that this fine brick wall at the front of Ormeley Lodge is being stripped of its vegetation so that the beauty of the bricks is exposed for all to see.

New house in Sandpits Road

Sandpits Road is a little no-through-road that is a pedestrian route to Meadlands Drive and the surrounding area, including the Russell School. Some how space has been found here to build this new house.

Traffic calming in Royal Park Gate

A small part of the southern part of Ham lies in the borough of Kingston upon Thames (the boundary was artificially bent to include Dysart School in Kingston) and they are wasting money on implementing traffic calming in roads where traffic is not a problem, such as Northweald Lane.

All Saints Church, Bute Avenue

All Saints Church in Bute Avenue is the most interesting local church architecturally with its dramatic tower and gorgeous brickwork. This picture of the church was taken from inside Richmond Park.

Open spaces in Buckingham Road

Buckingham Road runs parallel to Sandy Lane and (most of) Meadlands Drive so it's pretty quiet. It also has a very open feel to it as it is laid out like a capital "E" with large areas of grass between the horizontal strokes.

The Navigator's House

The navigator is George Vancouver and the house is in River Lane.

Another new fence

There seem to be more fences sprouting up than Spring flowers at the moment! This fence is on the horse field by the path that goes down the side of Ham House to the river. I like the little decoration in the fence but hope they are going to do something to reduce the bright colour.

Mist in Ham Common Woods

There has been quite a lot of mist this week and it has been hanging around for a while each day. That combined with the low winter sun produced some interesting light in Ham Common Woods.

Petersham Manor

In some ways Petersham Manor in River Lane is "just" another good example of a Georgian house but I think that the front door is magnificent.

Wonky porch

Petersham Road is like a sandwich with a middle layer of big but boring 1930s houses in between two layers of small but attractive cottages. This cottage is in the upper layer, i.e. north of Sandy Lane, and I chose it because the porch has all sorts of interesting lines, not all of which are vertical or horizontal.

New grass in the Wilderness

The Wilderness (part of the rear garden at Ham House) is being worked on. Here we can see one of the grass paths that has been repaired so that the colour of it makes even more of an impact than the green plastic fencing used to keep people off it.

Graveyard at St Peter's Church

St Peter's Church is accessed via the narrow road that leads to Petersham Nurseries and also from a footpath that runs around the graveyard, from where I took this photo.

The most famous grave here is that of George Vancouver and, to my shame, I learnt this from an in-flight announcement on my way back from Vancouver! When I mentioned this famous local down the pub I discovered that everybody knew about his local connections except me and that Vancouver Day celebrations where held in some of the local schools.

Double gates

Security is tight at Richmond Golf Club and there must be easier ways of getting in that via Richmond Park through these padlocked gates.

Tall house in Craig Road

On the corner of Craig Road and New Road is this unique house that stands out from, and above, the Georgian cottages in New Road and the typical Council/social houses in Craig Road.

Coffee's at The Bistro (?!)

This is part of the awning at The Bistro on Ham Parade. The Bistro is quite a good example of an old fashioned English cafe (no accent on the "e") with a menu that includes some more modern dishes too, e.g. things that include mozzarella cheese and sun-dried tomatoes, and it's even better now that it is smoke free. It's just a shame that the sign writer has no idea of what the plural of coffee is.

Window in Petersham Road

Another picture of contrasts, here it is the straight lines of the fine Georgian window and the curves of the ironwork. It is also another picture of the cottages in Petersham Road.

Blue sky, orange tree

The low bright winter sun highlights objects in interesting ways and here it has captured the colour of the tree and contrasted this with the clear sky behind.

New railings in Great South Avenue

One of the early signs of work in Great South Avenue is the new railings along the boundary with Grey Court School. They are not very exciting railings but they are better than the chain-link fence that they replace. There used to a gap in the fence just here that children used as a short-cut into the school but that has now been taken away from them.

The Bakehouse in Petersham Road

I seem to have taken lots of photographs of doors this month! This is another one from the cottages in Petersham Road just north of Ham Common. The sign above the door is a fascinating glimpse into the history of the area but the house itself needs some TLC to bring it up to the standard of its neighbours.

Georgian house in Sudbrook Lane

Yet another fine Georgian house in Ham, this time in Sudbrook Lane, showing why the proportions of Georgian architecture work so well, though you cannot escape the feeling that some windows are missing.

Panorama of Ham Common

This is about half of one side of Ham Common, starting with Forbes House on the left and tracking north-west to the trees by Ham Pond. Next to Forbes House is a brand new house, still under construction, that already looks a natural part of the area.

Side door and window

The southern end of Petersham Road, immediately north of Ham Common, has a lovely collection of period cottages and most of these have decorative door frames.

B 876 PKS on double yellow lines

Yet another car driver who does not realise that double yellow lines are put there for a reason.

Beer Garden at the New Inn

The beer garden at the New Inn can be accessed from the pub or from this side gate on Petersham Road. The sign is a lot more attractive than the garden which is basically just a paved area with standard pub benches.

Entrance to Richmond Golf Club

Richmond Golf Club is on the edge of Richmond Park and is accessed via Sudbrook Lane through this archway.

Lawrence Road

Lawrence Road, between Dukes Avenue and Lock Road, is one of those roads that does not really go anywhere so it has no through traffic and is a pleasant, quiet road as a result.

Its attractiveness is helped by a small cluster of mature trees standing in a grassy corner just as the road bends.

Ugly twin in Lock Road

These semis in Lock Road show why I have always bought detached houses! The house on the right has pretty brickwork, like its neighbours, and attractive windows. The house on the left does not and the house on the right suffers as a result.

The day the lights went out

There was a power cut on Tuesday that effected Ham Parade and the surrounding area for a few hours. The traffic lights at the main Richmond Road / Tudor Drive / Dukes Avenue junction were out but the traffic seemed to flow OK, though it probably helped that it was during the day and not at one of the peak times. The shops that could operate without electricity did so and managed their tills using pen and paper.

Lamp and railings

There's a lot to like in this picture of River Lane; lovely weathered bricks, austere functional railings, a few trees and a marvellous period lamp.

Sheds at Cassel Hospital

You cannot get much more industrial that corrugated iron, and I like industrial! These temporary buildings are in one of the corners of the Cassel Hospital site and the green one claims to be the Riverside Mental Health Trust Estate Management Site Hut.

Petersham Lodge

One of the more impressive gates in Ham can be found at Petersham Lodge in River Lane.

Logs and chippings

I hope that it works out in the end but so far the "improvement" works in Great South Avenue consist mostly of cutting down mature trees. The logs are being left behind to house beetles etc. and the chippings cover most of the area so what is actually a path looks more like a saw-mill.

Blue is the colour

This house in Beaufort Road stands out like a sore thumb due to the overindulgence in powder blue paint.

Summer House and statue

Winter is a good time for peering over fences and through trees that normally hide things from prying eyes. Here we can see a Summer House and a statue in the rear gardens of houses in Dysart Avenue.

Parakeets

Parakeets are one of the features of Ham and can be seen, and heard, across the whole area. If you look carefully there are three of them in this tree in The Copse.

Morgans is almost finished

The scaffolding on Morgans (on Ham Common) is starting to come down, revealing more of the development as it goes so, and the work looks to be almost completed. For some reason they are leaving tidying up the front of the development to last so it is still unsafe to go on to the site to pry further.

Hornchurch Close

Hornchurch Close in Royal Park Gate is one of the nicer parts of the development. The houses have different finishes and are arranged along curves to avoid the straight lines of identical looking houses that blight many developments, including most of North Kingston. There is limited space in the front of the houses but here the owners have managed to make the most of this through imaginative planting.