Kitchen Garden border

While the main beds in the Kitchen Garden at Ham House deservedly attract the most attention the border along the dividing wall is also well worth paying some attention to.

Ham Polo Club canopy

This is a closer look at the canopy on top of the Ham Polo Club pavilion. I took this picture simply because I like the construction.

[This is one of the pictures that I took on the Ham United Group (HUG) Annual Architectural Tour 2026]

Ham Polo Club pavilion

Visiting Ham Polo Club had been on my to-do list for decades (and it was only £2 to go when I first had the idea) so I was glad when the Ham United Group (HUG) Annual Architectural Tour 2026 gave me the unmissable opportunity to go. I will be posting a few pictures of it over the next couple of weeks or so, starting with the familiar pavilion which I had previously only seen from the distant Ham Avenues.

Teddington Lock garden

Teddington Lock is dominated by the extensive works to the Launch Lock, and has been for several months, so it is good to see that the garden there is still looking good.

Dead trees

A few trees were planted along the edge of The Copse by the boundary to the new Clarendon SEND School but the pleas to "Please Water Me" were ignored and they died. 

To be fair, it was somewhat optimistic to expect them to be watered without organising people to do so, particularly when they are not immediately next to any houses. If only there were a local residents association who could do that sort of thing.

The Hand and Flower is coming back (again)

Having been empty and inactive for several months The Hand and Flower is coming back as an independent pub with Thai dining. Similar approaches have been tried in the past without success and I hope that the new venture has better fortune.

It is encouraging that they are keeping the name and I like the new logo with a pink flower.

It will be interesting to see what the balance between food and drinks is but I hope to be using it both as a pub and as a restaurant.

New benches at Ham House

The wide path that runs along the edge of Plats and Wilderness has gained some new benches where you can sit and enjoy the best view of Ham House.

BenForrest in lights

I thought that I had finished covering the extensive refurbishment of BenForrest on Ham Parade and then I got off a 65 late at night and saw this.

Spare bricks

Work has all but finished on Little Orchard (on the south-east corner of Sudbrook Lane and Bute Avenue) and they seem to have quite a few bricks left over, which have been neatly stacked along the Bute Avenue boundary.

Kitchen Garden at Ham House

On this visit to Ham House I was informed that the house was closed for filming and I accepted the new graciously because I knew that already and I had not gone to visit the house, as usual I had gone to visit the gardens.

Despite there having been no rain for what seems like a very long time, the Kitchen Garden looked magnificent. No wonder that there were many people sitting in the outside area of the cafe, I was only upset that I did not have the time to join them. 

Rebuilding 16 Sandy Lane

A week or so ago when I first posted a picture of the rebuilding of 16 Sandy Lane I was thwarted by the green mesh across the front of the property so I was pleased to find on my latest visit, as expected,  that a hole had developed in the mesh allowing me to take this picture of the whole site.

Bird post restored

The metal bollard in Sudbrook Lane that a driver knocked out of place earlier this year has been restored and so has the decorated fake tree attached to it. Birds are again the residents of the tree though I expect this to change from time to time.

Ham House

I have posted many views of Ham House over the years, but never the obvious one, until now. Framing the house with trees and statues is both obvious and effective.

Not the entrance to Ham House

It looks as though some people have confused the entrance to the stables as the entrance to Ham House (understandable given the size, age and grandeur of the entrance) and so there is a sign pointing people in the right direction and this entrance is marked as "Private".

Digging up Craig Road

While the recent road works on Petersham Road and at Ham Cross have caused the most disruption those in Craig Road are quite substantial with various holes having been dug along the length of the road. 

This seems to be a continuation of the pipe replacement work that has been going on intermittently across the area for the last few years. Oddly, neighbouring Lock Road was done way back in 2022.

Through the arched window

It might look like an arched window, and I could not miss the Play School reference, but it is actually a mirror showing you flowers in the front garden of this house in Lock Road, rather than the brick wall of the building behind it.

Petersham Road resurfacing

The closure of Petersham Road over night for resurfacing has caused a few problems with access, which is why I ended up taking this photo at 1:30am while walking home from Richmond because there were no buses.

I presume that this work is necessary but that does not make the regular closures and restrictions on this road any less annoying.

Incidentally, Petersham Road was fully resurfaced in 2014. It may have been done again since then but without me recording it.

Work continues at Gordon House

The work on Gordon House, on Ham Common, has been going on for a long time and it is almost a year since I last posted and update. Finding the fate half open was just the excuse I needed to post another one.

The new garage on the left is the most (only?) noticeable change. Elsewhere the plastic sheeting is still in place at the back of the house.

No Jumping or Diving

There have been a number of different signs warning against jumping and diving on and around Teddington Footbridge for many years and these have been joined by several circular ones, like this one on the steps up from the towpath on the Ham side.

Progress at Harrington Lodge

When work started at Harrington Lodge in Sudbrook Lane last year it was hidden behind plastic sheets and now that they have been removed I am pleased to say that the Lodge looks much as it always did, and most importantly the climbing tree is still intact.

At the moment it is wilder that it was and it has grown up a little at this end compared to what it was in 2009.

Waiting for a garden

I have been following the current phase of work to 31 Ham Farm Road for almost four years (!) and they finally seem to be drawing to a close. Most of the front garden has given way to a hard surface for vehicles  with little space left for vegetation.

The small strip in front of the low wall is actually part of Ham Common and so I presume that this will be replanted as will the small strip of ground the other side of the wall where one tree stands as a reminder of the former garden.

Sandy Lane foundations

Sandy Lane has seen a lot of change in recent years as houses in large plots have been extended or even, as in this case, demolished to make even larger properties.

Annoyingly there is a green narrow mesh screen across the front of the property which my camera gets confused by, focusing on that rather than the works behind, and so all I could get this time was the view from one edge.

Restored cap

When I last posted a picture of a former gate to Beaufort House in Ham Street the work on the pillar on the left looked unfinished and the cap had not been replaced. A month later and it looks completed. 

You cannot tell from here that the brick pillar has been worked on and the cap is back in place. It is only the new slab that suggests that anything has changed.

Battered bollard

It is only a week or so since I noted the new concrete bollards on the bend of Church Road, by the south-east entrance to Ham Common Woods, and one of them has taken a hit already.

Behind Ham Parade

The service road behind the west side of Ham Parade (possibly Warners Lane but sources are inconsistent on that, e.g. it is not named on Ordnance Survey maps) has been the scene of much building over the years  so that it looks something of a mess, so unlike the frontages.

This current work is at the south end and it is too early to tell if it is an extension to a Ham Parade unit or a  separate building.

 

Close to the new works is this building which is a separate habitable one bedroom dwelling. The address for the planning application is 311A Richmond Road despite it facing on to the service road.

Ivy House refreshed

A couple of weeks ago I noted that Ivy House on Upper Ham Road was being repointed and now that the work has finished I am rather impressed. 

At this distance it is hard to see that anything has changed, though the whiteness of the windows suggests that they may  have been repainted not long ago, and it is only when you get closer that the newness of some of the pointing can be seen.

The Hive revealed

For many months the lower part of The Hive on Ham Village Green has been hidden behind boards so I was delighted to find it finally revealed. And the ground floor makes a big difference as it explains why there is a grey arch on the first floor, which had looked out of place.

The Hive sits very comfortably in its Village Green setting and is a welcome addition to the area.

Celebrating Wimbledon

This hedge at the Common end of Ham Street is something of a local landmark and I have posted a picture of it before when the two spheres became Christmas puddings. Their current transformation into tennis balls is stylistically simple but technically difficult as the two curvilinear ovals on each sphere have to be approximately the same size for the effect to work properly.

It is always good to see people making an effort like this to brighten the area even if all it takes is a little bit of white tape.

On entering Petersham Lodge Woods

It is easy to overlook Petersham Lodge Woods as River Lane and the towpath let you pass easily but it is worth making the effort to step inside and this is the serene view you get on entering from River Lane,

Three out of four

It is worrying that three out these four properties on Upper Ham Road are empty commercial units (the other is the intermittently used Ham and Petersham Cricket Club pavilion) and more worrying still that there are no signs on any of them suggesting that the owners are looking for new tenants.

Tree protection

The last time that I checked on these works at The Navigator's House in River Lane these gates were open and the tree was unprotected. I do not recall seeing protection like that before and I am sure that it is there for good reasons, better safe than sorry!

Dominic House in Sudbrook Lane

The changes made over the years to Dominic House in Sudbrook Lane have been small but noticeable. The driveway used to be paved and was smaller. The garden is reduced as a result and the row of semi-spherical trees that used to define the house has been reduced from seven to three.

Fallen tree

This fallen tree is on the towpath opposite Eel Pie Island and I like the way that it has just been pushed to one side. It has made the path a lot narrower but this is not a path that gets a lot of buggies or wheelchairs and there is still enough space for them.

More concrete posts

Richmond Council is continuing its welcome campaign against bad drivers by replacing fragile wood posts with stronger and taller concrete ones, this time on the bend of Church Road by the south-east entrance to Ham Common Woods.

Lammas improvements

I caught these changes in Lammas Road while they were still very much in progress and I just liked the business of it with a lot going on from a new front door to grey fences. The limited amount of paving is also encouraging.

Thames Young Mariners changes

I took a similar picture to this one in 2007 and I was interested to note the changes; the floating quay is larger, the embankment in the centre has been cleared of vegetation and there are new railings at the lock. There is also a lot more vegetation on the left side which has recovered from the major clearance done in 2009.

Replacement fence and hedge

Earlier this year I described how the lane past St. Peter's Church Petersham and on to Petersham Nurseries was being remade as a proper road and the last part of that work was to rebuild the combined fence and hedge on one side.

Gates gone

In 2023 I commented on the gates to the porch at St Andrew's and now they have gone. The pins are still attached to the front wall and it looks as though the gate panels have simply been lifted off; hopefully to be refurbished or replaced with something better, though there is also the possibility that they have been stolen.

BenForrest make-over

BenForrest arrived on Ham Parade in 2014 and had a refresh in 2019. The recent make-over has given it a very different look with white tiles, green paint and a fake plant background to the shop name which makes it rather hard to read.

New trees on the towpath

This will be a familiar view for the many people who make a habit of walking along the towpath and the bending river with vegetation on both sides makes it a great view. Slowly adding to the view are some recently planted trees though it is too early for me to tell what they are; the sturdy protection they have suggests that they are something a little special.

Broken tree

The foliage in the bottom centre of the screen comes from a high branch that has broken but with just enough of it left to hold the branch off the ground.

Common parking

Ham Fair is the biggest event in Ham each year and it is always good to go and to see so many other people there enjoying themselves. 

Unfortunately the Fair also brings traffic on Upper Ham Road to a frequent stand-still as visitors are allowed to park half on the road and half on the Common. The car on the left here is stationary while vehicles, like the bus in the distance, struggle to make progress on the narrowed road.

Repointing Ivy House

While the recent works at Ivy Cottage have been hidden at the back of the house the work at its twin, Ivy House, is very visible. I caught it mid-repointing when the front wall was covered with dust from the gouging out.

Bridge barriers

The Ham end of Teddington Footbridge has had barriers firmly installed on both sides. 

My guess is that this is to stop people from jumping off though there are already spikes to do that and there are no barriers on the more dangerous Teddington end where I have seen people jumping in to the river from in the recent heatwave.

4 Manston Grove

I get planning notifications from both Richmond and Kingston councils, simply by lying about my address, and I had seen several for 4 Manston Grove in Royal Park Gate so I went to capture a before image to compare with the completed works.

My timing was good as some work had clearly started but there was no change to the appearance of the property yet.

Fence in Sandpits Road

It is impossible to miss this new fence when walking along Sandpits Road towards Petersham Road and that is fine because it is a decent fence. The colour also goes well with the house.

It would have been even better if the wooden components of the steps had been replaced at the same time, they looked good with the old fence but do not match the new one.

Ham Fair Saturday 13 June

After Ham was plastered with advertising for Ham Open Gardens I was expecting something similar for Ham Fair but the only sign I have seen so far is this modest one on Ham Common facing the traffic.

The font reminds me of the lively debates over Comic Sans MS several years ago where it was generally accepted that the font should never be used. At lest is says "13" rather that "13th" which is much clearer, though the "3" does not look to be in bold from this angle.

Not for sale!

I thought the days of rogue estate agents' boards was long over until I saw this one technically on public land and outside a property which is not for sale.

A history in brick

This wall in Sandpits Road is hardly the oldest in the area but it still carries a lot of history told by the differently coloured bricks. The place where there used to be a gate is the most obvious feature and I also like the small arch over a former gap on the bottom left.