Extra height

I thought the wall to The Cottage in Sudbrook Lane was tall enough but now it has some fencing above it so perhaps I was wrong. 

I might be wrong on this too but I do not think that they have planning permission for the extra height. The most recent planning document that I can find, 22/2737/DD01, does not show the fencing.

Costa Express

There are plenty of other places on Ham Parade where you can buy a coffee, at least five, so I am not sure what the garage hopes to achieve by advertising that they too sell coffee, particularly as one of those other coffee places is a Costa!

A little clearance

There has been a little bit of clearance work in Ham Lands alongside the footpath to Teddington Lock. This has opened up the most southerly section of Ham Lands that runs behind the Locksmeade development.

The stumps left behind show how many trees were removed and indicates how large they were. It was not a big job but I am still curious as to why it was done, I like the corridor effect of the trees wiether side of the path and the way that they hid that section of Ham Lands making it more interesting.

Extension revealed

For several months the most recent extension in Burnell Avenue was hidden behind boards and now, with the work almost done, it stands revealed. It was hardly worth the wait as it looks like an exact copy of other recent extensions. I am hoping for a little originality in the final details and/or the garden.

LUD LOC

Filming for a BBC comedy drama called Ludwig, staring David Mitchell, is taking place in Ham Farm Road and the thirty plus people working on the site have this sign to guide them to the location. 

While it is generally good to see filming in the area the downside of a location like Ham Farm Road is that there is little space for parking and even using some residents' driveways has meant the road, and pavement, has been clogged with vehicles for several days and walking there has become a chore rather than a pleasure.

More solar panels

It is always good to see solar panels being installed as the more that go up the more that it encourages other people to do the same and we all win as regional generation using gas is replaced with local generation using sunlight. 

These panels are going up in Tideway Close where, as the photo indicates, they are well placed for sunlight for most of the day.

Frosty morning

A recent cold spell brought a touch of frost and some bright sunlight which combined to make the walk along the path from Teddington Footbridge through Ham Lands even more of a pleasure than it usually is.

Working on Ham Pond

This is an early Work In Progress picture of Ham Ponds where all that has been done so far is some coppicing of the trees on the island.

The workers are dressed in black so are well disguised and the coppicing is not that obvious yet but I will be back over the next few weeks when I hope that the signs of the much overdue work will be more obvious.

Dead boat

The still water this side of the weir reflects the upturned boat to make it look like a fantastical creature.

My Little Ponies

I have absolutely no idea why this collection of My Little Ponies (and Batman) is there but I heartily approve. Too often regeneration schemes focus on the big things, forgetting that little things like this can have a real positive impact. It made me smile.

Corner window

The houses set back from Petersham Road opposite the golf course share a common style but there are significant differences between them and these differences are growing as house owners ignore the conventions of the road. 

This house is noticeably different because it has natural wood windows, rather than white, and it also has a corner window that is unique to the area.

White fingerpost

I took this photograph to share on Twitter/X for the #FingerpostFriday meme and as it was taken in Ham I thought that I would share it here too.

White house with grey windows

The last time I took a picture of this renovation in Clifford Road (a couple of months ago) some of the detail was hidden by scaffolding but now the full blandness is revealed. Painting the bricks was wrong, the colour of the door and windows is wrong, and the windowless porch is wrong.

Inappropriate fence

I have featured this house in Tideway Close a couple of times during its recent extension and that was to draw attention to the inappropriate large corner windows and not it is to comment on the large inappropriate fence. 

Most of the Locksmead estate meets Ham Lands gently with houses either set back from the edge with not front fences or side-on with the house forming the boundary.  This one is different in that the back of the house faces Ham Lands which means that the fences to the back and side can be quite tall to protect the privacy of the main outside area, and they are. 

While all perfectly legal in planning terms it does jar and disrupts the views of this part of Ham Lands.

Behind 29 Ham Street Ham

Walking down Back Street you get a good idea of the extent of the work going on at 29 Ham Street.

The biggest clue is the pile of black steel girders visible through the open gate in the temporary fence.

Learning about the environment

Three boards have arrived on Ham Village Green that tech children a little about the environment. 

On the left, rotating the circle recreates the sound of the sea on a beach (growing up in a coastal town I sometimes forget that the sea is a stranger to some people), the central board explains the water cycle and on the right children can learn some standard terms for describing the weather.

Ham House head and lamp

There is a narrow corridor between yew hedges on the south side of the Cherry Garden and the Ham House end of this corridor is decorated with a head and a lamp.

Climbing apparatus

The new climbing apparatus on Ham Village Green looks fantastic. My only regret is that it arrived about twenty five years too late for me to take my boys there.

Rows of pots

The terrace behind Ham House is a small part of the garden but it has a big impact due to the way that pots and planters are arranged along it.

New gate at Malden Oaks

I use this blog to record changes to remind me of both what things used to look like and also then the changes were made. A quick look tells me that a new path into Malden Oaks was created in 2017 (I really cannot believe that it was that long ago!) and at that time the gate looked like part of the wooden fence. That has now been replaced with a metal gate.

The gate is simple in design which is appealing in its own way but it is clearly too tall for the space it is being asked to fill.

Cherry Garden at Ham House

It is always worth posting a picture of the Cherry Garden at Ham House and on this occasion I was forced into it by the bright winter sunlight.

New Year

This house at the Russell School end of Meadlands Drive has featured here a few times because of its renovations (the grey windows are a big clue here) and now it features for less controversial reasons, a sign in the window for the new year.

Henk hates cricket

Storm Henk brought down a tremendous number of small branches across Ham, makng it quite hard to walk in some places,but seems not to have done any major damage. One of the more obvious signs of its passing was the destruction of the cricket net on Ham Common.

Ham House scaffolding

I posted a couple of photos of the scaffolding at Ham House a couple of months ago and its is still there and I still like scaffolding so here are a couple more, taken from different angles.

The yellow blobs amongst the red are workers.

The house is all but hidden and somehow almost looks better, though I suspect that is a view that is not widely shared!

A closer look shows just how much scaffolding is being used and also starts to show some of the house hidng behind it.

Pink rabbit

This blog does not do Lost and Found but it does try to do interesting photos and I liked the combination of the pink rabbit and the brown leaves of the hedge.

Bright bridges

It looks as though the work on the two bridges to Teddington is almost finished and, as hoped, the grey paint applied earlier was just an undercoat and the original blue is returning.

 

While the sides of the bridges look bright the decking is unchanged and would benefit from some TLC too, not least to improve the grip and to remove the unevenness.