Working on Dryden Court

There always seems to be something going on at Parkleys, which is no great surprise given how many blocks there are, how old they and how well the development is maintained. The latest work requires Dryden Court to be covered by a flat grey sheet that is held there by an impressive amount of scaffolding.

Exotic plants in a secret corner

Beaufort Court is arranged in a flat V with the two sides following Beaufort Road and Hardwicke Road. Two of the three points are open to pedestrians and cars but the end that should let you escape to Riverside Drive has been closed (regrettably).

At the end of the road is a mini-roundabout to send you back the way that you came. This roundabout is now home to a small collection of exotic plants that look quite impressive even in early Winter.

A line of trees

Not that long ago (well, it seems like not long ago to me) this was part of the BAe site and there was a tall fence just the other side of the line of trees. When the factories and offices were knocked down and replaced by houses then the fences came down and this part of Ham Lands became accessible to walkers.

Coloured sky

Walking along Dukes Avenue and looking down Northweald Lane I was struck by the contrasts and shapes made by the failing light, the blackness of the roof-line, lamps and trees, and the vapour trail disturbing the orderly stripes.

Orange fruit

Natural Science and I never got on that well, which is my excuse for not knowing what this fruit is. What I do know is that in a gloomy month the bright orange and the crisp green bring some very welcome colour and the dark brick wall behind them is the ideal backdrop.

Standing on the ice

The arrival of a thin layer of ice on Ham Pond split the birds in to two camps. Some, like the ducks, fought for space to swim on the remaining water whereas the seagulls preferred to stand on the ice.

Frost

Winter came hard and fast this year with a sudden blast of cold in early December that gave the ground its first sprinkling of white. At the moment the frost is a pretty novelty but there is always the risk that it lingers too long and becomes a pain instead. Not yet though.

R 614 KGG goes the wrong way

It is hard to pretend that the No Entry sign is not obvious so I assume that R 416 KGG deliberately drove the wrong way in to New Road to secure a parking space, when there was plenty of space to park in on Ham Common.

Building above the garage

I do not like cul-de-sacs as the only way out of them is to back the way that you came in. Most of Ham avoids this problem by either avoiding cul-de-sacs altogether or by adding footpaths that allow pedestrians to pass through.

Unfortunately Church Road ignores local convention and has a number of these unfriendly roads. I am probably the main loser here as I go in to them periodically just to see if anything interesting is happening. That is how I discovered this extension being built over a garage in Garthside.

But none of that explains why I took the photo. What attracted me was the unusual mix of shapes and colours, such as the blue and orange plastic.

Bold tree in Church Road

There is a much-used footpath that runs from Ham Farm Road, past the end of Beechrow, and through to Church Road. Emerging from the leafy tunnel on to Church Road is a large but friendly tree towering above you making sure that you know that trees are the masters there and that people and houses are small, temporary and insignificant things.