Largest Santa?

There has been the usual wide variety of festive decorations this year and I suspect that this Santa in Maguire Drive is the largest.

Jolly window

Perhaps it was because of the extraordinarily long run-up or the unseasonally warm weather but Christmas seemed to lack some of its usual fizz this year ao it was good to have this jolly window in Ham Parade to mark the festive season.

Fabric tree

Christmas has come to Ham Parade with the arrival of this large tree-shaped decoration in the south-east corner. The tree is made of fabric squares and is adorned with a few fabric decorations that can be identified by their shapes.

Christmas starts very early

The small Christmas display on the automatic door to Sainsbury's on Ham Parade is rather cute so I am happy to post it here, despite it being ridiculously early.

Christmas soldiers

I  was not looking to feature Christmas lights this year but walking down Clifford Road I saw these jolly soldiers and had to take a photo of them.

Green puddings

Christmas decorations have to be a little bit special to be featured here and these certainly are.

Christmas cheer

I thought that I was done with Christmas decorations for this year until I wandered down Ham Gate Avenue. It was the large baubles in the tree overhanging over the path that demanded my attention and then having paused to take in the scene I then notice the two soldiers over the front door and the sparkle in the sundial.

The Petersham Advent Calendar Trail

The Petersham Advent Calendar Trail is, in their words, "A dash of Christmas cheer in spite of Coronavirus and national lockdown. Petersham will see the night-by-night opening of a free ‘advent calendar’ walking trail from December 1st to 24th this year."

And in my words it is a brilliant idea and I have really enjoyed walking around the route. It is not all there yet so I will be going out a couple of times more to see the rest of it.

I also love that they are using what3words to give the location of the next window; number 11 is at prop.jazz.fall. It's an app everyone who ever goes into somewhere like Richmond Park should have on their phone in case they need to give their location in an emergency. 

Wear your mask

Christmas will almost certainly see another rise in covid-19 infections as people mix more and so it is important that we all keep following the simple hands-face-space rules, even wooden animals.

Cute reindeer

Christmas decorations are out in force across Ham and Petersham and I will keep to my usual plan of only featuring any here that I feel are exceptional, such as these reindeer above the front door of Malt House in Lock Road.

Christmas lights at Bramlings

I was not intending to cover Christmas lights this year but the extensive display at Bramlings is so far over the top and so unexpected that I just had to share it.

Reindeer at Ham House

Having decided to include some Christmas decorations this year I just had to share these reindeer basking in the late sun at Ham House. Apparently they have been there before but this is the first time that I had seen them.

I had gone to Ham House for a coffee and some cake to break a long walk and did a tour of the gardens while I was there. I found them as I was leaving the Orangery and heading back towards the front of the house.

Baubles in the hedge

There have been lots of Christmas decorations on show this year and rather than swamp this blog with lots of illuminated Santas and snowmen I have chosen just a few things that are a little out of the ordinary and that includes this hedge in Ham Farm Road which has been decorated with Christmas Baubles.

Merry Christmas snowmen

I was not planning to cover Christmas decorations this year partially because I already have a backlog of unpublished photos and partially because there are a lot more decorations and lights now than there were a few years ago and I did not want to start a theme that could dominate the blog for weeks.

Then I saw these snowmen and my resolve weakened.

Christmas penguins

It has been an unusually warm Winter so far but there penguins do not seem to mind that as they stand quietly by the front door to one of the cottages on the north side of Ham Common.

Christmas lights in Craig Road

In looking through this blog I was surprised at how few pictures there were of Christmas lights so I might try to do something about that this year, starting with this jolly collection in Craig Road. The two reindeer pulling the sleigh are lovely and the setting is made all the better by the background lights from the house next door.

Christmas dogs at Ormeley Lodge

I have never noticed the Christmas decorations at Ormeley Lodge before but I presume that was more for my lack of looking than anything else. When I walked along Ham Gate Avenue today it was the large Christmas Wreath that I noticed first and it was only as I approached the front gate that I noticed the dogs.

Along the towpath

One of my favourite walks is along this stretch of the towpath heading north-west towards Teddington Lock; the weir can be seen in the top-left corner of the photo. Once at the Lock I have lots of choices on where to walk next from the long walk long the river to Ham House or right to Riverside Drive. In both cases there are further decisions to make before finally turning back towards home.

I took this photo for two reasons; the sunlight was doing its best to make the place look pretty and, very unusually, there were no other people around at the time. For some reason it was quiet despite the lovely weather. This was just before Christmas so I suspect everybody else was shopping. Their mistake.

Dance Active's nutcracker soldiers

Dance Active has been on Ham Parade for three and a half years now and is firmly established. They have started a tradition of decorating their shop, and hence the Parade, with a pair of nutcracker soldiers at Christmas and this is a tradition that I fully support.

They are clearly Christmassy but are pleasingly different from the normal Christmas decorations and they are a lot more prominent than the line of little trees above the shops.

Christmas Penguins

I have not paid much attention to Christmas decorations this year because of the combination of almost constant rain and a bout of flu but these magnificent penguin could not go unnoticed or unreported.

Anyone walking along the south-side of Ham Common cannot have failed to see them standing proudly at the entrance to Forbes House.