Rockery

Argyle House is the middle one of the three identical blocks at the top end of Ham Street, opposite The Orangery, and while the blocks are the same their communal spaces are very different, and this rockery is the best of them.

Concrete surface

The extensive works at Teddington Footbridge are drawing to a close and one of the final acts is to lay a new surface on the two spans. In preparation for this, the old surfaces were removed and minor repairs were made to the concrete underneath.

Put out more flags

The flags of England, Ireland and United Kindom are flying proudly in Petersham Close.

Late flowers

The Kitchen Garden at Ham House is usually enough to justify a visit to Ham House by itself, especially as you can admire it from the cafe, and that was definitely the case this time with an abundance of autumn flowers.

Hoarding upgrade

The hoarding at Gordon House on Ham Common that has been in place since July has been upgraded with a layer of aluminium. I caught it while it was being installed and still had the Skybord branding on the protective coating showing. That has now gone leaving the same monochrome colour as the original hoarding behind it, which I like to think of as British Racing Green,

27 Craig Road

27 Craig Road is hidden at the end of a short spur so a large number and arrow are helpful for anyone looking for it. I like that the numbers and the arrow have little serifs to make them look a little bit more interesting and I also like that the 7 has a strikethrough as that is how I have written them for over fifty years, it is how sevens should be written but I am finding it hard to convince my computer on that.

25 Craig Road

25 Craig Road is mostly hidden behind a large hedge but this pretty sign confirms its presence.

Changes at The Manor House

The inverted "V" on the wall of the edifice on the right is the outline of a building that used to extend forward from there to the pillar in the pillar in the boundary wall. That building has gone and what is replacing it seems to extend further to the left judging by the posts showing just above the wall.

It was only a matter of time ...

Earlier this year I posted a picture of the last post standing on the corner of Parkleys as it approached Ham Farm Road and then I wondered how long it would be before that too was knocked over by a careless motorist. Now we know.

1 Wiggins Cottages

I have posted a few pictures of Wiggins Cottages over the years but never one of the whole of number one, and it fully deserves to be shown off. 

Welcome to the Heart of Ham

The site of the coming community centre on Ham Village Green had been surrounded by a series of large signs saying "Welcome to the Heart of Ham" and explaining why the new centre will be that heart.

While I think that most people will welcome new community facilities there is more of a debate on what those facilities should be and what the building housing them should look like.

Another picture from a different angle shows the community centre sitting better against the new flats on Ham Close but that is only because those flats look boring too. 

Ham Cafe

Ham Cafe, on Ashburnham Road, is a traditional cafe, the sort of place I look for when in need of an all-day vegetarian breakfast. Once upon a time it was white and yellow and a little tired looking. The move to blue is an improvement and I like the font used in the shop sign.

Bench refresh

Some of the benches on Ham Parade were courdoned off for a couple of days while they got a refresh.

Empty space

This raised bed in Ashburnham Road has been cleared ready for replanting and is looking a little sorry for itself until that happens.

I took the picture from this distance to show the empty space which means that the sign is all but unreadable, so I made it easy for you and copied the text: "PLEASE EXCUSE OUR APPEARANCE WHILE WE ARE WORKING ON REMOVING THE PERSISTENT ROOTS OF THE DOGWOOD. A NEW PLANTING SCHEME WILL FOLLOW SOON!"

Extension in Murray Road

The bend in Murray Road gave this property extra space at the side and, as so many other similar properties have done, it is extending into that extra space. This is makes it a bigger and better house and the plans that I looked at (a while ago now) seemed to be sensible.

But .... I, once again, fail to understand why they have gone for a grey roof and windows breaking the character of the road. Being the odd one out is not a great look.

Sculpture at Hardwicke House

The front garden of Hardwicke House has gained a new sculpture (presumably created by the owner of the house) and I like it. It sits proudly in its setting with the trees and bushes gathered around it as if in worship.

Revitalise goes grey too

Not long ago the shops in Back Lane were uniformly blue but the trend is to go grey. Ham Common Pharmacy has gone dark, almost black, and its neighbour, Revitalise, has gone for something a little lighter that is more in keeping with its branding.

Second entrance

Having enclosed all of the initial development site for Ham Close some hoardings have been removed from at the east end of Woodville Road to create another entrance.

Behind 29 Ham Street Ham

I took a picture of the rear of 29 Ham Street Ham, taken from Back Lane, back in January and I was planning to do another once all the rear extensions had been completed but I was too slow and a garden room has arrived to block the view.

That said, the part of the main house visible to the right of the garden house is enough to understand what the rest of the house looks like.

Diving and jumping prohibited

Richmond Council seem determined to stop people diving and jumping off Teddington Footbridge but that determination goes no little further than putting up signs like this, which are easy to miss and easier to ignore.

Designs for a gate

This gate on Ham Street, next to the former (much missed) Royal Oak, is about to be replaced and the notice tells you what is replacing it. 

I wanted to show the whole note and some of the gate for context so you have to zoom in on the diagram to get the details, e.g. the gates will be 1998mm tall and have 100mm posts.

To Ham Village

The bus stop on Ham Common seems to have confused Ham Village with Ham Parade.

The directions to Cassel Hospital seem unnecessary too because if you are looking at the sign then you can see the hospital through the glass on the left, but it is an important destination and the directions to it are correct.

187

The section of Petersham Road between Sandy Lane and Sandpits Road is not fun to walk along, which is why so few people do, but I walk every road in Ham regularly just to see what has changed or if there is anything interesting that worth posting that I have not done so before. This time it was the sign for number 187.

The wall is a lovely backdrop with character bricks and nicely coloured mortar to which the sign adds more brown. The font used is clean and pleasing, though age has faded it a little and it lacks the contrasting colour that it needs to stand out.

More wrong windows

I am not a great fan of the Mock Tudor houses clustered opposite the golf course, despite growing up in something similar, but I do like their consistency of style that makes the houses look as though they belong together rather than just arriving there haphazardly, as in neighbouring Sandy Lane. 

Unfortunately when one house breaks with that style, like the grey windows here, then that makes the house a stranger and breaks the togetherness of the neighbourhood.

I just hope that the appeal of grey windows disappears as quickly as that for stone cladding did.

A collection of dead trees

The little green corner on Parkleys as it meets Ham Farm Road is looking decidedly less green and more brown as all of the conifers in this row have either died completely or partially; so much so that they no longer hide the fence.

Ham Common Pharmacy

Where Pharmacare Pharmacy one stood in Back Lane we now have Ham Common Pharmacy. which appears to be only a rebranding. The sign and new shutters give it a welcome smarter look.

The grey shutters make quite a difference to the area as only last year I posted a picture of the row of shops here and then the dominant colour was blue.

Wrong direction

Having said recently that I was not going to do a series of posts on bus stops, that may have to change!

This is the newly relocated bus stop on the west side of Broughton Avenue, next to the junction with Dukes Avenue, and the local directions are clearly wrong. I do not know what some one getting off there would want directions fo Lock Road or Dukes Avenue when places like Teddington Footbridge are more obvious local attractions, but if they are looking for Lock Road then this sign will send them the wrong way (you have to pass Lock Road to get to Meadlands School).