Cedarwood changes

Cedarwood in Church Road has had a major refurbishment recently which has pleasingly left the house looking much the same though there are changes to the landscaping if you compare it closely to what it looked like ten years ago.

The Hand & Flower is open

The Hand & Flower (the ampersand is back) looks rather good after its substantial refurbishment and is now open for business.

Tree in the river

A large tree that used to be on the edge of the river has fallen in to it. This is just on the Kingston side of the border, alongside Royal Park Gate.

Tree cutting

Clearly the trees in Parkleys need cutting back from time to time but it is not good that they completely block the pavement when doing so. It would be better if they used some car parking spaces.

The Hand & Flower pub sign

The "coming soon" banner for the refurbished Hand and Flower, which appeared in July, included a new logo and that design has been used for the pub sign. It is a very good sign and I hope that the pub lives up to the expectations it creates.

More filming

Filming has started again in Ham Farm Road. Given the location, I presume that this is for more Ludwig which uses a house there as the home for the principal characters while also using multiple other locations in Ham.

Large footprint

I took this photo mostly because I love the frame of scaffolding at the front and the other assorted items associated with the construction of the new 16 Sandy Lane. Looking through the clutter it is just possible to determine the footprint which extends across the whole plot, as they all do these days, and extends back further on the right side.

It is going to be a very big house, even by the standard of its neighbours.

Waiting for white

Amidst Cadent's clutter on Ham Street, one of the cottages is getting a little refresh and is waiting for some white paint to complete the work.

Ham House terrace

Not my first picture of the terrace at the back of Ham House and almost certainly not the last either. It is an inviting place that encourages you to walk to one of the benches at the far end and look back along the full length of the terrace.

Grey Court glimpse

I took the opportunity of the school holiday to take a photograph of the new building on the Ham Street side of Grey Court but while the people were absent the leaves were not so it was only a glimpse.  What can be seen looks good though its the function matters far more than its appearance.

I am hoping to get a fuller picture in autumn or winter.

Tall wall

As part of the refurbishment of 17 Sudbrook Gardens, it has gained a front wall that is both unexpectedly tall and uncharacteristically light in colour. Some of the original wall can be seen on the right, behind the lamp post, and the contrast between the old and the new is vast.

Occupied

Phase 1 of the Ham Close is sufficiently completed for some of the homes to be occupied and while I was watching a family was being shown one of the homes in the block in the middle of the picture.

The playground, walkway and planting are all good signs of a well designed development. And it was good to see the reborn Little House next to the playground.

Seeing more of Gordon House

With all of the plastic sheeting and a lot of the scaffolding gone, most of the refurbished Gordon House is there to be seen.

Battered bollard

Richmond Council's attempt to control bad motorists from abusing the approach to the small parking area on the north side of Ham Common, at the entrance to Great South Avenue, have had another setback when some spectacularly bad driving damaged one of the posts, the same one that was knocked over in March.

Perhaps cars should be banned from this area totally to protect the many walkers and dogs who use this route.

To Richmond Park

This is the view from the terrace behind Ham House looking through the gardens towards Melancholy Walk, visible beyond the gates, with Richmond Park the ultimate destination.

Sudbrook Gate

I presume that the house Sudbrook Gate, in Sudbrook Lane, gets its name from its proximity to the entrance to Sudbrook Park (home to The Richmond Golf Club) but while it references another gate its own gate is rather good.

EA67 ZPW

Traffic free

It was a real pleasure to discover that Cadent's work there had closed Ham Street to through traffic and being able to walk along the wide flat road rather than the narrow uneven pavement.

Public Bar

The current refurbishment of The Hand and Flower has revealed another little piece of its history, signage for the Public Bar on a door that has not been used for many years.

New garden

The long and extensive work to 31 Ham Farm Road seems to have been completed with the planting of the gardens. Unlike number 29 (top-right corner) they have created a lawn in the strip that is part of Ham Common and only planted shrubs in the private area.