Blue

The playground on the edge of Royal Park Gate has been resurfaced in a vibrant blue which is a marked change from how it used to look.

The lack of decoration is a shame but understandable as it seems to have been the different sections in different colours that caused it to fall apart.

Playground resurfacing

It is almost exactly five years since the playground on the edge of Royal Park Gate was last resurfaced so I am a little surprised to see it being done again so soon. 

The section by the roundabout died a while ago and needed to be repaired or replaced but all of the soft surface in the playground has been dug up and thrown away.

More hedge

The low fence around Ham Pond has been reinforced with the addition of a hedge. I am sure that there are reasons for this but I am struggling to see what they are.

Unexpected gate

There are several roads off Northweald Lane in Royal Park Gate and Yeovilton Place is the most convulouted of them. At the very far end is this house which has acquired a hedge and a front gate.

 

While that may look reasonable in itself it is against the overall open design of estate and almost certainly would not get planning permission should they apply for it.

Christmas soldiers

I  was not looking to feature Christmas lights this year but walking down Clifford Road I saw these jolly soldiers and had to take a photo of them.

HF18 WXG

Burst pipe

It is a little worrying that The Hand and Flower has had to close for a while because of a burst water pipe so soon after reopening. And this comes after issues with gas in the beer pipes and the temperature of the cellar. Hopefully these are all just teething problems and the H&F will be back up and thriving soon.

More cutbacks

This is Riverside Drive close to Croft Way with Meadowview in the background and the bushes in the centre have obviously been cropped back. I do not have any great issues with the pruning though I am a little surprised that the small section at the left end has not been cut back to the same line as the rest.

Dukes Avenue darker

Two weeks ago I reported that a street light was off on Dukes Avenue opposite the junction with Northweald Lane and now the one next to it, by Vetech, is off too.

As before, my phone was far to clever with the lighting so you will just have to take my word for it on just how dark this section of Dukes Avenue is now, though the brilliance of the lights that are working are a good clue.

Stunning snowmen

There was not much snow around to play with this time but someone, or someones, managed to create these excellent examples in Clifford Road.

Zooming out you can see how the creators got around the lack of snow and the diminutive size of the snowmen only makes them more impressive.

Their size and location put them at some risk and I was pleased that I saw them in time to avoid an unfortunate collision.

Light Snow Day - Monday 12 December 2022

The last Snow Day in Ham was 24 January 2020 so there is no surprise that this one caused great excitement despite the distinct lack of deep snow.

This section of Ham Common Woods was typical with the white sheen frequently punctured by green grass.

Petersham Lodge Woods also revelled in the snowfall and tried to catch it in its branches.

A welcome cutback

In October I complained that these bushes had all but blocked the pavement on Croft Way so I am delighted to see that they have been cutback.

Refurbishment in Lammas Road

This house in Lammas Road has been pleading for refurbishment for quite some time and now it is happening. The condition of the front door gives a good idea of what the house used to look like and the oddly black windows hint at what it will become.

Pointless pavement repairs

Richmond Council has found some strange places to repair pavement but Ham Close is the one that confuses me the most.

Normally I would just comment on the lack of footfall, which is certainly true here, to suggest that the repairs were a low priority or even unnecessary but here there is the more obvious, and rather significant, reason - the whole Ham Close estate is due to be demolished and rebuilt. 

These pavements will be gone in a few years but they will look nice until then.

Roof works in Dickens Close

I was rushing along Petersham Road to meet a friend when I saw this roof extension and, despite my other engagement, I took a detour along Hazel Lane, Sudbrook Lane and Dickens Close to take this picture (my friend is used to me being late anyway).

Clearly a lot of work is being done to the roof and I am interested to see how different, if at all, the house looks when the works are finished. Other recent extensions have maintained the NeoGeo look of the Close and while it is not a look to my taste I would like to see the character preserved.

Steep Slope

Ham ends at Ham Gate (my blog, my rules) but I had to include this sign in Richmond Park, at the top of the steep rise up from Ham Gate, because it is so lovely.

A slightly different view of The Cottage

I have complained before about the difficulty in seeing what is going on at The Cottage in Sudbrook Lane so I was pleased to find another vantage point.

I could still only see the upper level of the house but that is enough to see the scale of the extension and to get some idea of the style.

Broughton Avenue obsctructed

I do not want to fill this blog with rants against obstructed paths because while that would be depressingly easy to do it would also be somewhat boring, for reader and writer alike. However, I will continue to mention some of the example that annoy me the most, such as this one in Broughton Avenue.

This is a busy route for pedestrians because there is a school and a parade of shops nearby, and the pavement is not that wide so any obstruction is a problem.

Ham Common needs a proper path

There are two places locally where the lack of a proper path consistently annoys me, one is along Church Road and the other is on Ham Common. The business of this route, and the lack of a sensible alternative, is indicated by the width of the mud.

This is the only north-south route for some distance (unless you want to cross the busy Petersham Road twice) and it is ridiculous that there is no path here. Other greens that I walk on regularly, like Richmond, Twickenham and Kew, all have proper paths and are the better for it (though Richmond does have too many, but that's another story).

Light out

It was a lot darker than it looks when I took this photograph but these days phones do incredibly clever things with images and so it looks more like dusk than night. Luckily it did nothing to disguise the fact that the nearest street light is out of action, as it has been for several weeks (if not longer).

It is a little while since I had any reason to be in the territory of street lighting but then all main roads were patrolled regularly so things like this would be spotted quickly even if they were not reported.I do not know if that process has changed and/or if it has failed this time so I have reported it, on FixMyStreet, to try and push things along.

Reji Grill is going

Reji Grill only came to Ham Street in June (2022) and it is already on the way out. It is being replaced by something offering Greek food.

NA62 TVP

Large tree gone

We were warned that the large tree on the junction of Dukes Avenue and Broughton Avenue was coming down and now it has leaving just a circle of wood chippings to show where it once was.

The size of the circle is a reminder of just how large it was and how much it once dominated this view. I just hope that it is replaced with a tree that can grow to a similar size and not a much smaller tree like the ones further down the road.

Replacing a wall with a fence

When I noted in July that the wall between Ham Common Woods and Richmond Golf Club I was expecting it to be repaired, not replaced by fences. What was the wall is now a pile of bricks just beyond the new fence.

 

Nearer to Ham Gate Avenue the fence is solid, which may be to do with the layout of the golf course and the need to keep balls in play.

I liked the old wall simply because it was an old brick wall and I will miss it. That said, the open metal fence (top) brings more light into Ham Common Woods and brings the line of trees on the course into view.

The New Inn

The side gates have been place for some time but the writing on them is new. It is also very large and very obvious, which is rather the point.

Solar panels

Too few houses have too few solar panels but perhaps the recent dramatic increases in energy prices will make more people adopt them. Setting a good example is this prominent house at the east end of Sandy Lane.

OO11 SCT

Locksmeade extension

This is one of the several extension underway in the Locksmeade development, and this might actually be in Locksmeade Road (number 13?) though the street names and numbering there remain a mystery to me. There was a good argument for having just one road name in the development and numbering them all, say, consecutively clockwise from the entrance. Or Locksmeade Road could have ended where Fisherman Close starts.

This also explains why I like house signs that have both the house number and the street name on them and which are easy to read.

Getting back to the picture (!), this is the view from Ham Lands which means that it will be one of the more obvious Locksmeade extensions and I think that it will be a detriment to the perceived character of the area, though that bridge has already been crossed several times.

Closing in on Douglas Footpath

Douglas Footpath (which runs from the towpath to Petersham Avenue between Petersham and Ham Sea Scouts and German School) is quite busy and I had to let quite a few people pass before I could take this photo of the main section. That business justifies some attention to the vegetation on the left which is spreading over the path.

MF19 HMV

You can see the path along Church Road by the offside wing mirror.  You cannot see any more of the path because the driver of MF19 HMV has chosen to block it, remarkably so that they can go to the church. Not a great advert for Christianity! 

Copper theft

Several houses in Ham Farm Road are blessed with distinctive green copper roofs and, sadly, some thieves are aware of this and have removed some from this house.

Please do not climb over the fences

The damage caused by people climbing over the fences here is deemed sufficient to warrant a bright red sign. I am not going to argue against that but I wish that other more harmful activities were also discouraged, particularly feeding the birds with inappropriate food (bread) and letting dogs run loose.

Late flowering baskets

It is the middle of a generally grey November and the hanging baskets across the area are doing their best to brighten things up a little.

6 Sandy Lane almost revealed

I have been watching the new house go up at 6 Sandy Lane for over a year and the long wait is finally coming towards the end with the first glimpse of the ground floor thanks to my old friend, an open gate.

The big window looks good because it is big and it matches those upstairs. However, the lack of any visible decoration (so far) means the the house remains bland.

Large gate

Petersham and Ham Sea Scouts has two main entrances at either end of the site providing easy access to boats and large vehicles, but this is another way in. You can see the new hut to the right of the gate which shows that this gate is on to Douglas Footpath.

New Road closed

The problem of heavy parking in a narrow road like New Road is demonstrated here as a removal van has blocked the road (and part of the pavement). If climate activists had blocked the road then there would be an outcry and claims of emergency vehicles being blocked but when a resident does it then it's a different story.

Another Locksmeade extension

The tsunami of extensions in the Locksmeade estate continues unabashed and this is just one of two new projects that I spotted on a recent walk through.

The appeal to extend relatively small houses is understandable but this series of works has lessened the uniform feel of the development and has reduced its charm in the process. 

Maintaining Ham Pond

Ham Pond needs some regular tender loving care to keep it and its occupants happy and at this time of the year that means cutting some things back.

 

How much cutting back has been done can be seen from this pile of prunings.

Remembering Royal Oak

I have fond memories of Royal Oak that once sat on the corner of Sandy Lane and Ham Street so I was pleased to see that the old sign had been retained, at least until now. The only reason that the sign was visible was because work had started to convert the former pub and then social club into a house and that led to the side gates being open.

Dog with bow

I seem to have featured most of the front gardens in New Road at some point and the dog with a bow gets this one a mention.

A nice thing about New Road is that almost all of the gardens are too small for cars so the owners are forced to keep them as gardens and many have risen well to this challenge. A bad thing about New Road is the lack of off-street parking means that one side of the narrow road is solid with cars which destroys the beauty of the street.

Saqui is 40

Saqui on Ham Parade is celebrating 40 years of trading with balloons and 40% off meals in the restaurant for a week. That is an offer that I have already accepted and I expect that demand will be high.

Saqui has been a regular source of takeaways for me since moving to Ham in 1996, and I think I ate there a couple of times when living in North Kingston before that.

Trench

The sad story of the destruction of the wildlife corridor through Royal Park Gate continues.

Having made several damaging changes to this area, which is land owned by Kingston Council, the resident of the end house in Manston Grove has now dug a trench alongside the property.

The grass area is part of the wildlife corridor that he cleared a few weeks ago.

Road still closed

When a took a night-time picture of the closure of Petersham Road I assumed that everything would be fixed by the next day but the work is still going on and the diversions are still in place.

The cause of the closure is this hole.

I took this picture at 4pm on a working day and it is frustrating that no work was going on at that time. There may well have been a good reason for this but it would have been nice if there was an information board up saying what was being done and how long it is likely to take.

Meanwhile the diversion of traffic along Dukes Avenue and Sandy Lane (and other roads in between) has caused little problem, which helps to negate the fears of traffic chaos arising from, say, the Ham Close redevelopment.