Forty

There is something dated about this house number sign in the font, border and colour that I like.

Fake grass

Fortunately there are very few examples of artificial grass in Ham, such as this one in Mornington Walk. Grass should look worn and muddy in Winter, not pristine like a golf fairway in Summer.

Petersham-style porch

Many of the old cottages along Petersham Road and nearby have wooden porches like this one but this is the only one (as far as I know) in the adjacent roads of more recent brick built houses. You can find it in Clifford Road opposite the junction with Buckingham Road.

Different roofs

This is one of the two buildings being constructed on the passage between Dukes Avenue and Maguire Drive. The view from Maguire Drive is side-on which gives a good view of how the roofs are being constructed.

Mixed housing

As the work on these semis in Maguire Drive draws to a close it is becoming clearer what they will look like when finished. The symmetry of the windows proves that they are a pair while the different colours and different doors try to suggest otherwise.

Most of what has been done makes some kind of sense but I am struggling to understand why there are blocks around the door on the left. A few grey bricks, as used on the house on the left, would have provided some contrast without being so brutal.

Vandalism in Royal Park Gate

It took twenty years but the vegetation either side of the path through Royal Park Gate grew in wild joy and almost completely masked the houses. The wildlife liked this too as it provided habitats, food and cover from predators.

Now one resident has decided to undo two decades of work and to clear the vegetation near his property which means, amongst other things, that Manston Grove is revealed. The vegetation looked a lot better.

A side view shows that this is more than just cutting back vegetation that had encroached through the railings and a dead zone of about 1 metre has been created.

Kingston Council have intervened but it is too late to undo the damage already done.

Under water

It has rained a great deal in the last couple of months so it was no surprise to find Petersham Lodge Woods flooded.

This stretch of water is hiding the path through the woods and forced me to take another route.

Empty path

The towpath is always a great place to walk, which is why so many people do just that. This day was fresh and bright and perfect for walking. I took advantage of a brief moment without people in the way to take this picture as I headed towards Richmond.

Two benches

Normally when walk in the Ham House area I go to the gardens there but this time I deviated and walked along the towpath as it passes in front of the house. The verge is much wider there, by the car park, and two benches have taken advantage of the extra space to rest and enjoy the view across the river.

Somewhere in Wates Estate

I love to ramble through Wates Estate and I do so in random directions just enjoying the spaces between the buildings. Spaces like this one.

LD65 XRU blocks the way

This is obviously a crossing point for pedestrians but this driver selfishly thinks his parking is more important that other people's ability to cross the road easily and safely.

A pretty way in

There is lots to like about Wates Estate and one of them is the discrete entrances. This one is off Riverside Drive and is well guarded by mature trees.

Maintaining Wates Estate

Open gates are one of my favourite things as they reveal things that are often hidden and sometimes these are things that I did not even suspect that they were there, and this is what happened here.

The layout of Wates Estate creates interesting spaces between the building, most of which are planted, and in this one there is a private area used by the maintenance team.

Straw Doll

I am not convinced that this is made out of straw but that does not matter, it looks like a straw doll and that is good enough for me. It is a very attractive addition to the door and makes you believe the sign beneath it.

Battered box

I was walking down Sandy Lane fairly briskly when something abut the battered box made me stop and admire it.

A year later

I have been following this project in Ham Farm Road for a whole year now, starting with this post in December 2018. Finally the scaffolding and the skip have gone and it possible to see what the finished house looks like.

Mock Tudor no more

One of the aims of the blog is to capture changes and this is a good example of that. Earlier this year I posted a picture of this house in Maguire Drive because of its unusual Mock Tudor facade and now that has gone as the house undergoes a major refit.

10 Maguire Drive

Another pretty house number, this time in Maguire Drive. I particularly like the third title which is there just for decoration, which is always a good enough reason.

Something is happening in Back Road

I am always on the look out for new construction projects and I found this one in Back Road. The new fencing shows that this is part of a programme of improvement works though it is to early to say what this is going to become.

Putting the roof on

The roofs are going on the two new buildings between Dukes Avenue and Maguire Drive and they are interesting roofs too. On both buildings a traditional A-Frame roof is being constructed but only on half of the building. I am interested to see what they do with the other halves.

Yellow leaves

Obviously these leaves did not fall very far from the tree in Maguire Drive at all and in their timidity they have created a thick yellow carpet that merges the pavement with the garden.

New roof

This house at the end of Randle Road (off Craig Road) has a new roof that shouts at you from some distance. It will fade with time.

I moved into my house when it was brand new and then it was possible to spot the development, and hence my house, when flying back into Heathrow but the colour gradually subdued and eventually the development merged into the rest of Ham and North Kingston.

Bridging bricks

Now that the new homes in Craig Road have risen above the hoardings it is possible to start to judge how they will look when finished, and the initial view is promising. The new building at the front of the site matches its neighbours in style and construction (brick).

What cannot be seen clearly from this picture (I have posted others) is that the houses in Craig Road are different on the two sides of this new one and they are made from different coloured bricks; yellower to the right and redder to the left. By going for a muted brown brick here the new house bridges that gap nicely.

19

House numbers feature here fairly regularly because they can be as pretty as this. I suspect that this one is in Craig Road though I may be wrong as I took it a few weeks ago now (I am always working with a backlog as I take several photos during a walk but only post one a day).

Typical Wates

While places like this in Wates Estate are far from hidden they are easily overlooked and can be taken for granted. This happens to be Broughton Avenue looking south.

Ham Village Green information board

I am a fan of the various improvements that have been made to Ham Village Green and this information board is another one. It tells the interesting story of the area in words, photos and maps. 

Managing trees

The area between the Thames and Royal Park Gate is a jumble of trees and shrubs, a welcome splash of wilderness before entering the built up area. This area has been left more or less untouched since the demise of British Aerospace until now when Kingston Council have done some substantial clearing and pruning.

This is the view from the top of the small ridge by YMCA looking towards the path that runs through Royal Park Gate and it shows the extend of the clearance.

The work continued the n the other side of the path but it is not all clearance and (at least) one new tree has been planted.

Making a path

When Royal Park Gate was first built the short-cut from the towpath past the playground to the main path through the development was almost hidden, it became more visible through increased usage and now it has been firmly defined by the placing of wood chippings.

These chippings have come from nearby works and there will be more on that later.

Gate work

One of the Winter projects at Ham House concerns the gate on the north-east wall.

Wall works

I am used to sections of the Wilderness at Ham House being closed in Winter to allow the grass to recover from months of abuse from children playing hide-and-seek and part of it is closed this year but for another reason. As the sign says, the area has been roped off because work is being done to the walls.

Working on the Orangery

There are several improvement projects underway at Ham House, as there often are in the quieter months, and the largest of these is at the Orangery Cafe. The nature of the work is hidden but I suspect that the cafe will look much the same as it did before. The good news is that the cafe is still open during these works and it remains a good place to rest a while with a coffee and a slice of cake.

Ronny's has closed

Like a lot of people, the first I head of Ronny's closing was when I went there for a coffee and a cake while on one of my walks. The sign on the door, of a type I had seen elsewhere previously, said something along the lines that everything in the shop was subject to forfeiture due to arrears on the lease.

This was a big shock not just because I was hoping to eat and drink there but also because it had always seemed to be doing well on my fairly regular visits there. It was always busy and the investment in furniture etc. suggested that business was going fine.

I am not the only person who is missing Ronny's and returning a few days later I saw several letters of support stuck to the front of the shop.

Taking shape

There are several infill projects on the go at the moment and this one if off Clifford Road. The construction has only just started but the early signs are promising due to the dark brick and the pattern within it.

Zoinks!!

I seem to have scared Scooby Doo and Shaggy as I walked along Broughton Avenue.

Passing The Copse

Almost always when I take the path that skirts The Copse as it goes from Meadlands Drive towards Ham House I am walking South from Ham House and I have posted views that way before so it made a vary pleasant change to capture this view when walking the other way - that is the Ham House wall just to the left of the centre of the picture.

Re-roofing Argyll House

Argyll House (on Ham Street close to the junction with Riverside Drive) consists of three blocks and all of them are having substantial work done to them. The visible work is the re-roofing but there may be more going on.

The blocks seem to be empty during the work.

More infilling

Another construction project has started on the site of former garages, this time in Riverside Drive. The site is quite narrow and is close to the houses in both roads (it backs on to Murray Road) so the options for redevelopment are limited.

The long and narrow access to the site means that it is difficult to see what the work is and how it is progressing and, at the moment, this is the best that I can do.

Mock Tudor

As Mock Tudor goes this example, is Stretton Road, is nicely done and the planting around it is effective too. If this was in the Tudor Estate in North Kingston then it would look happily at home but at the end of a terrace of four brick houses, and next to an identical terrace, it looks a little worried and out of place.

Something nice in Stretton Road

Surprisingly (well, I was surprised), this is the almost the first picture I have posted of something in Stretton Road, though I have taken several of the footpaths leading to/from it. What caught me eye this time was the way that 10A had been done up.

The new front door is simply and unfussy though there ought to be a law against letter boxes positioned low down like that, I deliver the Ham and Petersham Magazine (not here) and low letter boxes are the worst.

The garden is also simple and looks good for it with a pleasing mix of shapes and colours. I guess it is designed to be low maintenance and I hope that the maintenance is not kept too low and that the plants are kept in good shape; the ones along the front wall already need trimming back.

LV69 NYA parks outrageously

Parking on Ham Parade is obviously a stupid idea and parking by the bus stop even more so, but that has not stopped LV69 NYA from doing so.

I waited until the 65 had gone before taking this picture as I try to avoid having people in shot (for various reasons) but you can imagine that a minute earlier there were several people clusters around the vehicle looking confused and angry.

There was plenty of parking spaces available on the road at the time, not that a lack of spaces was any excuse for parking here.

This side view shows just how much of this busy pavement was occupied and how it is parked exactly where people congregate when waiting for the bus.

It also shows that the vehicle belongs to Billa Scaffolding and I hope that they are embarrassed, and sorry, for this.

Digging up Cleves Road

More infrastructure works, this time at the entrance to Cleves Road.

Craig Road closed

I presume that this infrastructure work in Craig Road is associated with the new homes being built there and one consequence of it is that the road is closed.