Teepee

Teepees have been constructed in various places in Ham Common Woods and this one is adjacent to Church Road. I took a photo of it as I have seen online discussions suggesting that Richmond Council do not like them, for Health and Safety reasons, and have been removing them. If true, this is a reminder that this teepee was there once.

Sheridan Road dogs on patrol

Beware of the Dogs signs are not uncommon but it is unusual to see one as specific as this one. I have no idea what a Sheridan Road dog looks like and any patrolling that they were doing at the time was not in the front garden.

Wrong window

I have been watching this house in Sandy Lane, opposite the junction with Arlington Road, for quite a time and when I last posted a picture of it, in December 2020, I was waiting for the windows to be added. And here they are.

The scaffolding has gone too allowing a first proper look at the new house.

Most of it is fine, if unremarkable, but the large picture window is just wrong, something I did not think could happen with a double-height window.

Blackout lifted

Like it or loath it there is no denying that Forbes House is one of the most prominent buildings on Ham Common. In 2014 the then owners his the house behind ugly black panels which I do not think anyone liked the look of. 

The new owners (presumably, it was on the market) have different views and have removed the panels making the impressive facade of the house visible again.

62 Sheridan Road

My fascination with house numbers continues with a floral 62 in Sheridan Road. I am not totally convinced as the house is a little back from the road and at that distance, and with my eyes, the red bits look a little like rust spots.

Oddly. number 31 has gone for the same style but you will just have to imagine what that looks like.

Clear-out in Riverside Drive

It looks as though something substantial is about to happen to this house in Riverside Drive as both the front and back gardens have been cleared-out.

Mullion

Another attempt to take a decent photo of Mullion in Sudbrook Lane and this time I think it will do as it shows both the scale and the simple beauty of the house.

LG62 SLU parks on the pavement

Lawrence Road is one of the quietest roads in the area and there is very little chance that a parked car will be damaged but LG62 SLU was not prepared to take that risk and chose to take away some of my narrow pavement instead. This is what selfish looks like.

Blocked path

The street of "Council Houses" have many paths that run between the backs of the houses and sometimes, usefully, connect adjacent roads, such as the paths that run from Cleve Road to Lovell Road to Ashburnham Road. I was looking to see if there was a route from Murray Road to Riverside Drive as my map suggested that there was but my way was blocked by this new gate.

On the other side are the backs of the new houses in Riverside Drive, which I presume is why the gate was added. Previously the path went to the garages and then on to the road.

Tall pots and more

This house in New Road (off Ham Common) has had a refresh, in November I showed the work in progress and now it is complete. The outcome is a pleasing mix of shades of grey (!) with some nice contrasting greens.

It is a shame that the front garden has been sacrificed to a car (it took a few attempts to take this picture because the car space was occupied) as most of the north side of the road is free of cars while the south side has the worst car blight in the area.

LC16 DOA ignores double yellow lines

The double-yellow lines on Ham Gate Avenue are to provide a safe space for cars and bikes to pull in on this busy narrow road. Obviously the driver of LC16 DOA thinks that their convenience is more important that other people's safety.

Lost kite

The trees on Ham Common are used to fighting with kites and, as Charlie Brown never truly accepted, the trees always win.

Lime Tree Cottage

It is always nice to write about the good changes in Ham (and Petersham) and Lime Tree Cottage, 2 Sandy Lane, is definitely one of those, despite my earlier comments.

The house has been repainted in much the same colour as before which has made it look a lot brighter and has disguised the newness of the porch, the doors, windows and gate are interesting without being shocking (and are not grey!), and the pots either side of the door are perfect. The wellington boot stand is good too.

Heavy flooding in Petersham Lodge Woods

There is often some flooding in Petersham Lodge Woods, and I have posted several pictures of it here before, but I do not recall ever seeing it as flooded as this before. That is hardly unsurprising given the amount of rain we have had this winter and how wet it is elsewhere.

This is the view from the towpath and the main path through the woods is on the left between the two avenues of trees, that bright green patch is the garden of Petersham Lodge.

And this is the view looking across the woods from the river end of River Lane.

And finally the view from the River Lane entrance next to Petersham Lodge.

No waiting in church road

This section of Church Road is always a problem for pedestrians, which is a real issue as it is a main route to and from Ham Gate Richmond Park. There are some (not enough) parking restrictions with double yellow lines at the far end, by the junction with Ham Gate Avenue but not at the Latchmere Lane end.

The excessive rain this winter has made the muddy path on the left impassibly muddy and cars parking there have gouged out large tracks. Better late than never, Richmond Council has responded with an army of No Waiting signs.

That should help for now but a more permanent solution is needed to both enable easy access (including those with buggies etc.) and to control cars.

A further extension

The front of this house is on Maguire Drive and this is the back as seen from Dukes Avenue. It had one large single-storey extension across the back of the house and this has been joined by another building that looks too substantial to be a shed and lacks the access to be a garage. I would call it a garden room but there is no real garden left to speak of.

New door

It is about a month since I last visited this renovation in Church Road and it is worth posting an update for two reasons; a new front door has arrived and the fence has gone allowing a full view of the front of the property, at least for the moment.

A step backwards

I may have been too quick to praise 19 Buckingham Road in November!

It is the end of a short terrace of houses set back a little from the others in the road with a grass area containing some trees in front of them. Now number 19 has broken ranks and paved over their section of the common area to create an ugly parking space. The little trees do little to redress the damage.

I am struggling to see how this was allowed to happen. 

Remembering Edna and Donald McLean

Two new benches have arrived on the towpath just on the Richmond Side of the Border Stone.

They are planted into the ground, rather than sitting on a concrete slab (which the new benches nearby on the Kingston side do) which allowed them to appear quickly.

As with other benches along the towpath, they are backless to discourage long stays.

Both benches have dedications.

Ham Food Centre

The space vacated by William Hill on Ham Parade almost a year ago is going to be taken by Ham Food Centre, which is good news for those of us frustrated by the lack of range and availability in the Parade's only other general food store Sainsbury's.

The Ham Deli survives because it is sufficiently different and I think that Ham Food Centre will have to try and be different too, hopefully that will include stocking a much wider range of fruit and vegetables to help offset the loss of much missed Ham Fruiterers.

I am a little surprised that the new shop will include an off license as we already have a full range wine merchant in Taylors as well as a couple of other shops that do off license.

Pebbles and pots

The cottages on the south side of Lock Road close to Ham Common have relatively small gardens and when that space is used well they can look as pretty as this.

Chicken

I keep returning to Clifford Road and I keep spotting new things there, things that are clearly not new but which had managed to avoid being spotted before. Things like this chicken.