(Vote) Liberal Democrats

The "Vote Liberal Democrats" sign does not actually say "Vote" but I guess that it does not need to, you only put signs like this up when there is an election. And whenever there is an election this particularl signs reappears to annoy me. It is not the endorsement of the Liberal Democrats that grates, it is the angle of the sign; it is meant to be a diamond!

Not too far away, a seasoned campaigned shows how it is done with two signs at the correct angle. They have two signs as the property is on a T-junction so there are signs facing along both roads. As I said, they are a seasoned campiagner and this is the skill level you would expect.

Vote Green

As in previous elections, I am post "vote for" signs not because I endorse the party but because of the visual impact they have and in these elections I have seen far more "Vote Green" signs than before. In contrast, Conservatives seem to have given up and I cannot recall seing any, not even in the usual places along Petersham Road.

The demand for "Vote Green" signs has forced them to dig out some old stock. It is easy to see why this design was replaced, it is too busy (it actually says "Green Party" twice) and the word "Party" is unnecessary in the main text. The new sign is clearly a neater design though, arguably, the darker green in the old one is better as it gives more contrast to the white text.

HN15 WJF

I had stopped adding comments to the Bad Parking posts, letting the pictures tell the whole story, but this incident was notable for two reasons; firstly three other people were forced into the road to pass the car in the brief time that I was in the area and, secondly, the property it is parked in front of has two driveways that could have been used instead.

Facing the wrong way

I have sat on this bench on Ham Common many times and its positioning has always confused me. All the other benches on the Common face in towards the centre but this one faces out towards the traffic.

Construction site decomissioning

An area next to the car park at the north end of Ham Street had been used as the centre of operations for the major works at Ham House and now that those works have finished this area is being decommissioned and sits mostly empty.

Ham Close Road Closed

The barrier around the start of the Ham Close redevelopment that I saw the start of a few days ago has slowly spread to Woodville Road and now blocks one of the roads into the estate.

Renovation complete

The renovation of the first house in Clifford Road (Sandy Lane end) looks to be complete and from this angle it does not looks quite reasonable, though there are obvious questions to ask about the colour scheme.

I said "from this angle" deliberately as from here the attached house is all but invisible and the renovations fail when compared to the context. The dark red brick of the house and front wall of its co-joined neighbour is a stark reminder of what houses in this area should look like.

Flourish Landscaping van

Taking shape

Rather faster than I expected, the shape of the new 25 Ham Farm Road begins to be revealed.

Comparing posts

When the new posts were installed, in some number, along Church Road, I was surprised that little heed seemed to have been paid to weather proofing with the posts having flat tops and no sign of any treatment, i.e. the tops are a different colour to the sides. That gave me the excuse to go and look at some other posts in the area to see what had been there.

This post in Croft Way the posts are Gold Standard with a fairly steep point to encourage the rain to flow away and a groove just to make it look better.

In Parkleys a different approach is taken with a simpler, and less decorative, V top, despite which the post seems to have weathered badly.

This post just off Riverside Drive is similar to its near-neighbour in Croft Way but has a slightly less steep point.

Prom Pop Up

Ham Parade is suffering with a mix of empty and dead units so it is good to see some fresh artwork brightening it up a little.

Wet varnish

The shop that was the much missed M&J Hardware had been boarded up since last summer without much sign of it coming back to life so it is good to see the boards removed and work being done on the building.

Night lights on a building site

I was surprised and delighted to find these lights on at this house in Sandy Lane. I was out for a night time walk (I have a daily step target to reach) and was not intending to take any photographs until this interestingly lit jumble of construction materials and scaffolding forced me to stop and enjoy the scene.

Lurid green nets

Ham Common has been scarred by the new lurid green cricket nets which have become the most visible thing on the Common to the detriment of everything else.

To show the impact I took this photo from some distance away (the tree intruding on the left shows that I was on the edge of the common) and even though the nets are a small part of the scene the dominate it.

I can only hope that the awfulness of these will has be appreciated by those responsible for them and that they will be replaced quickly.

Matching houses

Having posted a picture of Vine Cottage with its new roof yesterday I wanted to post a picture of its neighbour, Jude Gate, today to show the similarities between the two. Both have new simple grey slate roofs and it very much looks as if Jude Gate is being painted the same colour.

New roof for Vine Cottage

When I caught Vine Cottage in the act of acquiring new roof timbers recently I expressed the hope that the old slates would be retained but they were not and I was wrong; the new slates look better.

Preparing for Ham Close redevelopment

The much awaited redevelopment of Ham Close looks as though it is finally about to start with an end section of the estate being fenced off.

Parking restrictions in Church Road

I walk along Church Road several times a week, and at different times and while I am quick to moan about badly parked cars I cannot recall this ever being a problem in Church Road (except next to the church), so I was surprised to see these new posts.

They are fairly small and so not that intrusive but the road would be prettier without them.

Church Road does have a problem with cars but that is speeding, not parking. Without a pavement it is a tricky place to walk and I have had cars deliberately driving straight at me as well as speeding past close enough to touch.

Ham Open Gardens 2024

To be honest, I find the poster for Ham Open Gardens more attractive than the prospect of actually visiting the gardens.

The poster gets everything right; it is appealing and it says all the you need to know in large clear letters. This is very different to the approach sometimes adopted for Ham Fair and I hope that the simpler and clearer style will be used for all such events from now on.

Mt issue with the gardens is that I have seen most, if not all, of them many times and they lack the grandeur of those on show in Petersham Open Gardens, particularly now that the lovely garden at the convent has been built over.

I also have an issue with the way that the event is publicised on the HPA&AG describes the event on their website, which states "Once every two years, we have unique opportunity  to ...". If it happens every two years then it is not unique!!

Extension in Headway Close

When I first moved into Ham (1996) I liked the homogenous character of the Locksmeade development  and I have been saddened since then to see it gradually eroded. This recent extension in Headway Close is just one of many examples with the loft extension destroying the symmetry of the roofline.

Pavement parking

Normally when I post photos of Bad Parking I post them as additional entries with limited text alongside the usual (almost) daily posts (the daily posts are timed at 02:00 and the Bad Parking ones at the time of the incident) but this collection of incidents was so egregious that it warrants its own post.

These three examples of bad parking were taken only five minutes apart.

The first was in Ham Farm Road where the driver left enough space for a cat but not for a person.

The next two pictures were both taken round the corner in Parkleys. The driver of this vehicle actually followed me on the pavement before parking.

The third example, another van, also left almost no space for pedestrians.

To complete the story, the delivery driver in the white van delivered his first parcel quickly then pulled away, drove past me and parked on the pavement in front of me again. I was not impressed!

Unfortunately while bad parking is not always as bad as this it is still far too common and is something that pedestrians locally have to contend with usually several times a day.

All gone

I have been watching the demolition of 25 Ham Farm Road with interest and the first stage of the project has completed with all of the previous house knocked down. 

I will keep looking through the gaps in the hoarding but I am not expecting to see anything notable for quite some time. To set expectations, the building notice says that the planned duration for the work is 57 weeks.

New roof timbers

I have been walking along the north side of Ham Common even more often than usual recently to check on progress on Jude Gate only to pass when significant work was being done to the roof in an adjacent property (Vine Cottage).

The work had only just started and while the new timbers were obvious it was not clear what was happening to the roof. I hope, and presume, that the old slates will be replaced.

Gate to Pond House

When Pond House (on the north side of Ham Common) was refurbished in 2013 I posted a picture of it that showed off the front fence but neglected to include the matching gate, a mistake that I am very happy to rectify now.

It is a simple design but it does enough attract appreciative attention and avoids being garishly fussy. It is perfect for the house and the location.

A feast of scaffolding

As scaffolding goes, this is a great example due to the density of the vertical poles combined with the other lines created by the bridge, trees, fencing and barrier. It is a wonderfully busy picture.

58 Hardwicke House

Way back in time,  2007 to be precise, I posted a picture of one of the house signs at Hardwicke House and while I mentioned the other one I did not post a picture of that too, which is a shame becuase it has been replaced.

The new sign, on the left side of the gate, does all that is expected of it by clearly showing the house number and being constructed of stone that suits the wall well.

For completeness, here is the sign on the right side of the gate. It has weather even more since I took the earlier photograph of it and it is now all but unreadable.

Barren island

I have not seen anyone working on the island in the pond on Ham Common for a while but I hope that more work is planned as it is looking very barren at the moment just as the vegetation around the pond is welcoming Spring.