Murder markings in Ham Common Woods

There is no point having a few hobby horses if you do not jump on them from time to time. One of mine of the relentless intrusion of the built world in to the natural when it is the natural world that attracted me to the area in the first place.

The latest victim is the messy pond next to Ham Gate Avenue, now being branded as Latchmere Brook. The original crime was to cut down many of the trees around the pond and now the path that used to lead mysteriously in to the woods is now signposted with clear borders and an unnecessary bark surface.

To make things even worse, a yellow line on the other side of the pond marks out where a new path is going to be created for reasons that escape me.

If people really want to look at a pretty pond then there is a very good one on the other side of the wall in Richmond Park. There is no good reason to open this one up when it's beauty, and the rest of Ham Common Woods', comes from its secrecy.