A simple solution

Almost three years ago (how did that happen!) when I last wrote about Ham Glebe on Church Road I said "... the effect is spoiled slightly by having the utility room prominent in the near corner. I find the solid white just a little bit too much and the pipe sticking out from it just too distracting. I'd put another plant pot there.". Now they have and the house looks much better for it.

Now with cars

Cars were always going to the a problem in Richmond Chase. The publicity images produced during the planning stages showed a clean sweep with far fewer and smaller cars. And without bin boxes too.

The final look is not one that appeals to me but all the houses (in this section) have been sold so some people clearly like what they have done.

The last leg of Richmond Chase

The main development of Richmond chase is shapes like and inverted "T" with the main road running down from Latchmere House and this is the order of the construction.

The picture above shows the west end of the cross-road facing towards Garth Road. Due to residents' pressure the original plans were changed so that Richmond Chase does now connect to Garth Road, which would have provided a second access to the site. I think that this was a mistake.

The is the view looking east from the other end. This part of the development is much like the main north-south road with large houses in a cramped bland setting. At least there is a hint of a walkway on the right.

A new approach to Latchmere House

Latchmere House is one of the final parts of Richmond Chase to be completed (work started three years ago) and what was a building site is now being transformed into a garden. It is early days but so far I prefer the garden it had when it was a prison.

More infill

Another set of garages is being redeveloped, this time in behind Clifford Road and Meadlands Drive. The site is pretty well hidden at the end of a long access road off Clifford Road that takes you behind the houses.

A closer look at the site shows that the garages are still in place but their doors have been removed. There are no signs of any current activities but the pallets of bricks hint at things to come

Big jobs!

Whatever is happening at 54 Sandy Lane requires some big machinery to make it happen.

New shed and garden room

When I last visited Back Road there was no sheeting on the fence so I could see that the garden had been cleared. On this visit the garden was hidden but the roofs of two new buildings were visible. 

Fade to grey

Most of this major refurbishment project in Lock Road (opposite Craig Road) is still hidden by plastic sheeting but a gap in it reveals a worrying sight - the front wall has been painted grey, Painting bricks is almost a criminal act in itself and it made even worse when the house is half of a semi.

I can only hope that when the work is finished and the final results can be seen that it is not as bad as this preview suggests, but I am not sure how that could happen. The fear is that this will be a serious blot on the historical Ham Common end of the road.

A building rises

The new homes in Craig Road have started to rise. As before this is the view from the little pathway that runs alongside the site so we are looking side-on at house in Craig Road.

It is a long thin and oddly shaped plot so it will not be possible to judge it until it is finished. Until then it is just a matter of monitoring progress and looking for things like the types of bricks used.

Ham Dental Practice

Ham Dental Practice has been a quiet presence on Dukes Avenue for many years and while I obviously knew that it was there it never caught enough enough of my attention for me to take a photograph of it. That changed when they put some new signs up.

The most visible sign is on the boundary fence facing west towards the traffic lights.  It is a very contemporary sign with lots of white space, a clear font, little text and a simple graphic. I like it.

However, it does annoy me that their phone number on the big sign on the front is shown as 0208 ... when it should be 020 ...

More flowers

Ham is taking the various In Bloom competitions very seriously this year with planters popping up everywhere. This small and pleasing example is at St Thomas Aquinas on Ham Common.

South Lodge

South Lodge on Ham Common is an attractive building and because of that I have photographed it many times. The sign on the entrance is attractive too so I do not know why I have not photographed it before. It is as stately as the lodge, just as it should be,

Copper trim

The substantial rebuilding of this house in Ham Farm Road is producing a very interesting building. The grey brick wall at the front are original and they have now been topped with an extension clad in wood and trimmed with copper.

It already looks striking and I expect it to look more so as the work completes. I only hope that it will be visible from the road so that passers-by can enjoy it.

6 Ham Farm Road

As I think the colour of the gate tells you, this is the entrance to the Huf Haus at the end of Ham Farm Road. The house sign is as fresh and modern as the house behind it. It is a lovely attention to detail.

New project in Dickens Close

Dickens Close makes little sense within the context of Ham and Petersham, there is no where else like it though you could argue that the mock-Georgian look is at least similar to the many Georgian properties in the area.

This house is at the entrance to the close and I have featured it before because of the shrubs in the front garden. Now it gets featured again as something quite big is going on there.

The marks above the front window suggest that the appearance from the front is changing and if it is then I'll post an update in due course. 

New gate

Montrose House had been without a gate for a few weeks during which time work was done on the pillars and the foundations. The gate itself has now been retuned.

As far as I can tell, by referring to older photographs, it is the same gate and as it now looks pristine and very black I presume that it spent its time away being spruced up ready for a few more years of defending Montrose House from the onslaught on Petersham Road.

FC Barcelona

These two FC Barcelona flags look striking against the white wall of this house in Ashfield Close so they can be forgiven, even though everyone knows that Leeds United are the best!

Black and white house

I have taken several pictures of this house in Cedar Heights over the years, simply because I love it. These pictures are often taken from odd angles to exclude cars parked either on the drive and/or the road so I was delighted to find no cars nearby when on a recent walk.

Petersham Lodge Woods

Petersham Lodge Woods is in the north-east corner of the area that I cover in Ham Photos with River Lane forming part of my boundary. There is only one path through it and I always choose to use the path rather than use the road, which does not have much of a pavement anyway.

The woods continue to the right to Douglas Footpath and with no paths to disturb that large section of woods the wildlife has the area to itself with only the regular flooding to concern it. 

Empty plot

This empty plot sits on the edge of Wates Estate between Perryfield Way and Stuart Road and visually belongs to neither. It looks forgotten and unloved. Some landscaping and a tree or two would improve the appearance of the plot and would bring it into Wates Estate. 

Cottage garden

Fanshawe Road covers the short distance between Beaufort Road and Maguire Drive and consists of a few houses like these. I took this picture of Number 4 because of the vitality of the south-facing garden.

The white fence is unusual for this area where walls are the norm but I can forgive that as the gaps in it allow the sunlight through and without the sunlight the garden would suffer.

Rebuilding in Maguire Drive

Judging by the extent of the scaffolding this is another big project, this time in Maguire Drive.

The house is on the bend of Maguire Drive that faces the footpath that has now been closed while houses are constructed on the site of the former garages.

Pristine pavement

This is not the first time that I have been surprised by the decision to resurface a road or pavement though it may be the most surprising.

There are long stretches of Church Road that have no pavement and another section that has a narrow uneven rocky path so I find it extraordinary that somebody has decided to redo the one section of decent pavement that there was.