New porch

The last time I visited this pair of refurbished semis in Maguire Drive I made disparaging comments about the doorway on the house on the right and now I can see that I was being presumptuous as the work was incomplete and the ugliness of the doorway was just the prelude for a porch.

Pavement blocked

I am not sure where I, and the other pedestrians, are meant to go when a driver things that having somewhere to park is more important than everyone else's right to walk along the pavement.

Winter Pond

Of course Ham Pond looks its best in Summer but it can also be appreciated in Winter when the absence of vegetation reveals more of its shape and structure.

KM57 NNZ occupies the pavement

Plenty of space, I would say too much, is allocated to cars in our streets leaving pedestrians to struggle with the space that is left. There is simply no excuse for cars to claim even more space at the expense of pedestrians as KM57 NNZ has done here.

Making access

I think that a bit of orientation is required here. This was taken from the set of garages in Mariner Gardens, near the Broughton Avenue end, and that is the back of Ashburnham Road in front of us. One of the houses that back on to the garages has removed their rear fence to provide access for a skip. The boarded up window on the ground floor suggests that this is a big project. 

Working in Ham Lands

This poster, taken at some distance because of the mud around it, explains the work that is being done across Ham Lands. The main points are this is a good thing and local people are involved.

This is one of the areas where I marvellous machine ripped out all of the brambles; I was not there to see it but have spoken to some that have. All the area strewn with debris was covered in brambles.

Friends of Ham Lands (including me) followed up the machine with some human effort and one Saturday morning we raked this area and pulled up roots to give the grass and flowers a better chance to reclaim the area. It may not look that much but we filled several large builder's bags and dumped the clippings amongst the trees nearby in a single pile.

Ham Close

One of the things that I am trying to do in this blog is to capture Ham as it changes and so this is a "before" photo of Ham Close taken in anticipation that the area will be redeveloped sometime soon, there have been serious talks on this for years.

It is also an opportunity to stop and look at a set of buildings that most people (well, I do it) walk past regularly without paying much attention to them.

Ham Lands in January

I love Ham Lands throughout the year, even in January. I was walking along Riverside Drive when the clarity of the light, the starkness of the trees and the length of the shadows combined to make a thing of beauty. And I like the way that the tree on the left seems to be watching over everything.

Swiss Bread coming soon

What was Ronny's (obviously) is due to become Swiss Bread soon. A shop selling interesting bread is always welcome and so is the cafe. I have really missed having one at that end of Ashburnham Road as it is an easy and natural place to go after walking or working on Ham Lands.

Grey Gargoyle

This gargoyle looks very unhappy, possibly because he has been left outside alone for several years on the roof of a porch in Clifford Road.

Not a garage

Back in October when I first posted a picture of this construction project I assumed that the garage-shaped building that was replacing a garage was a new garage but the lack of garage doors and the presence of windows suggests that it is something else.

Cross

This is one of those occasions where crisp Winter lights and bare trees produce an unusual view of a familiar object.

The most common view of St Richard's is looking down Croft Way where the road allows a longer distance view but this is taken in the kink in Ashburnham Road as it moves from north-west to north-east.

Despite not being religious in any way, I appreciate the simple cross next to the church which is often lost amongst the trees that have matured around it.

Friendship Bench

These four cuties are taking advantage of aFriendship Bench in Craig Road. It is a nice bench too.

Sudbrook Lodge

Sudbrook Lodge is one of the reasons that I started this blog as back in 2007 I could not find a photograph of it online and I thought there should be one for a building of this stature so I posted one myself.

I have posted a few more over the years as different lights caught in in different moods and that is the excuse for this one. The light was clear but honest and the bare tree allowed more of the lodge to be seen from this angle.

Wet

There has been a lot of water around this Winter causing the river to hit some noticeable highs. Anyone who uses Teddington Footbridge regularly, and that is a lot of people, will be aware of the normal water levels on the Teddington bank outside The Anglers and on this crossing the water was so high that several familiar landmarks were engulfed by the river.

Broken sign

There is a lot of work going on at the Hand and Flower but I do not thing that the sign is part of it (yet), it looks as though a part of it just broke off. Behind the newest sign is a much older one that reminds us that, not that long ago really, it was a Courage pub.

Purple

A few months ago I posted a picture of the courtyard of St Richards Court and it looks as though I will have to go back there soon to see what, if anything, has changed once the works masked by the purple sheeting have been completed.

Hidden church

St Peter's Church in Church Lane, Petersham has had quite a bit done to it in recent years, some of which I have captured in this blog, and now it looks as though something more substantial is being done. The church is listed, obviously, so while the work may be major it is unlikely to make much difference to the appearance; perhaps little more than a few newer looking tiles.