Not so Melancholy

Melancholy Walk has had its first trim of the year and so far things are not too bad. I am not sure why it has to be mown at all but I am glad that this cut was just a metre or so along the path rather than all the way back to the tree-line.

This deeper cut may well come later in the year bit for the moment we can enjoy the natural beauty of Melancholy Walk without getting the feeling that we are walking through somebody's well tendered garden.

Dysart Arms

As a pub, the Dysart Arms is becoming less interesting to me and, to be honest, I've become less interesting to them as they want to sell food and I want to buy beer. Even the outdoor seats that last year were full of families, hikers and cyclists are now hidden from the park and state their purpose with pristine white napkins and cutlery.

But I ignored that and sat at a table anyway and ordered a beer. From there you get can appreciate the beauty of the building that comes from the details.

Ham Fruiterers

I probably go to Ham Fruiterers more often and spend more money there than any other shop in Ham so I am rather fond of the place. I also like the rich colours of the fruits which make the frequent visits there even more pleasant.

LA07 BYU blocks dropped kerb

I've not posted many Bad Parking pictures recently not because there have not been any to take but rather there are so many examples that I now only select the special cases. If I just wanted numbers I could stand outside Wendy's Workshop or Greggs on Ham Parade on any Saturday and record the continual misuse of the double yellow lines and the disabled bay there.

LA07 BYU caught my attention by ignoring the single yellow line and so blocking the pavement along Tudor Drive one night when there was plenty of space to park in the parade behind him/her.

New cricket season

It's always good to see Ham Common being put to use whether it is the regular football coaching sessions that are run there or the big annual events like Ham Fair, but nothing says village green more than a game of cricket.

Wind in the Willows

Ham House hosts all sorts of events through the year and while I have no great interest in going to see Wind in the Willows I do like the jolly signs that enlivens the main approach to the house on Ham Street.

White line

I used to think that the baseball pitch in the large field at the bottom of Ham Street was unused then last year I saw a game being played there. Now there is more evidence that the pitch is used with fresh white lines demarcating the field of play.

Flowers at St. Michael's Convent

The weather has been kind this weekend for the first Open Garden of the season, St. Michael's Convent on Ham Common. So while many people succumbed to the thrills, noise and glamour of the Victorian Fair on the Common others of us were more tempted by the serenity and beauty of the Convent gardens.

There are laid out like a patchwork quilt with lots of different sections each with their own shades and shapes. Mt favourite, and probably mist people's, is the messy orchard towards the centre with its irregular trees, long grass and colourful flowers.

Wounded land

I still find it hard to believe that somebody though that cutting a straight wide avenue through the large wooded area of Ham Lands was a good idea and even harder to understand why people who should know better allowed it to happen. The London's Arcadia project has done some good things but they are all more than offset by this single act of wanton destruction.

The wound was very deep and bleak when I first recorded it in December 2007 and the satellite view from June 2008 revealed the full brutality.

Things are slightly better now with the bushes slowly edging their way back towards their friends on the other side of the divide but the wear and tear of the path means that the wound may get better but it will never heal.

Pointless pavement

The rather pointless pavement work on Riverside Drive continues northwards and is now heading towards Thames Young Mariners with more determination (but less purpose) than 300 Spartans.

The road here is almost devoid of pedestrians and those that do venture out prefer to use the pavement on the other side of the road, that is where the houses are after all. There is little need, if any, for a pavement on the Ham Lands side of the road and there is even less point in upgrading it.

Beaufort blossom

I may have overdone the pictures of Spring in previous years so now I am being a lot more cautious. However, I did want to mark the arrival of Spring in this record of the passage of time in Ham so I've chosen a picture of fresh pink blossom adding some welcome shape and colour to Dukes Avenue by Beaufort Court.

New house, old look

This plot on Dukes Avenue has some history. I first mentioned it in August 2007 but then in April 2008 I asked if it was an abandoned project and no progress had been made when I last looked at it in February 2009. But now it is almost ready to join its near twin and neighbour.

It looks less like the house next door the more you look at it but most people will not do that. They will just glance at it when they walk or drive past and the similar shape will fool them in to thinking that the new house has always been there and belongs there. And that is how things should be.