Stone post

Motorists are deterred from driving over the muddy strip of land on the south side (this counts as provision for pedestrians) by a range of barriers varying from large tree trunks to this small stone post that once helped to mark the entrance to Latchmere House.

Sad remnant

When the Richmond Chase development was finished the wild area along Latchmere Lane was roped off from the paths cutting through it but these always looked flimsy and had already started to break in May 2021, now all that remains is one post and a little bit of rope hanging on to it in desparation.

Clearance

The little patch of Ham Common Woods trapped between Church Road, Latchmere Lane and Richmond Chase (Latchmere House Prison) has always looked a a bit scruffy and felt a bit neglected and so it was both surprising and pleasing to see clearance work being done there, as evidenced by these large piles of wood chippings.

Latchmere House from Latchmere Lane

When I took a similar picture of Latchmere House in 2020 it was to highlight the uniterupted view of the house and this time I have zoomed out a little to show the context. And here I was wrong. 

In 2021 I called the patch of open ground between Latchmere Lane and Richmond Chase "abandoned and unloved" but this year it is a lovely meadow.

On the ropes

The redevelopment of Latchmere House as Richmond Chase has left the large area between the development and Latchmere Lane abandoned and unloved.

A few trees have been left, which is good, but apart from that the area has been left to grow unplanted and unmanaged and the ridiculous post and rope barriers are already broken in several places.

Into Richmond Chase

Richmond Chase is all but finished and, after four years, this will be my last photograph of it - until something changes, obviously.

This is the path into Richmond Chase from Latchmere Lane. It is also something of a short cut to Church Road if you are heading west, not that many people do that. 

Latchmere House from Latchmere Lane

One of the few things I have been looking forward to with the development of Richmond Chase has been this uninterrupted view of Latchmere House from Latchmere Lane. 

Things were rather different when this was a prison and then the house was partially hidden behind a wall. In time, it may be hidden again if that hedge is allowed to grow.

A new way into Richmond Chase

There is little going for Richmond Chase as far as I can see so it is good news that there will be a new route through it and even better news that this is a footpath a not a road.

This is the northern or the two connections to Latchmere Lane with the oppressive Richmond Chase ruining the view on the right.

The middle section of the short path is  looking good manly thanks to the mature trees.

Then it stops and I had to turn around and go back again. Hopefully it will be open soon.

It also needs more trees to screen the buildings.

The Regency Apartments

What was once called Latchmere House is now being branded as The Regency Apartments, which is odd as Latchmere House is Victorian.

The refurbished building looks pretty enough from this angle and has the advantage of being next to Ham Common Woods which is just off to the left. Unfortunately just off to the right is the rest of the cramped Richmond Chase development.

The last leg of Richmond Chase

The main development of Richmond chase is shapes like and inverted "T" with the main road running down from Latchmere House and this is the order of the construction.

The picture above shows the west end of the cross-road facing towards Garth Road. Due to residents' pressure the original plans were changed so that Richmond Chase does now connect to Garth Road, which would have provided a second access to the site. I think that this was a mistake.

The is the view looking east from the other end. This part of the development is much like the main north-south road with large houses in a cramped bland setting. At least there is a hint of a walkway on the right.

A new approach to Latchmere House

Latchmere House is one of the final parts of Richmond Chase to be completed (work started three years ago) and what was a building site is now being transformed into a garden. It is early days but so far I prefer the garden it had when it was a prison.

Entrance to Richmond Chase

The poster shows what the entrance to Richmond Chase will look like once the rebuilding of Latchmere House. The poster, like the photograph, cheats a little by showing the view from between two blocks of affordable housing that form the real entrance.

I have nothing against the affordable housing, just the opposite, I wish there was ore of it. My argument is against the design of the site that hides the centrepiece, Latchmere House, behind a wall of red brick.

Working on Latchmere House

I have been watching the construction of Richmond Chase for just over two years now and I think that I will be watching it for some time yet. On previous visits work had started on gutting Latchmere House and I was pleased on this visit to see it clad in scaffolding. I like scaffolding.

Bland house completed

It has taken a few months but the new bland house in Latchmere Close is now finished. Since I last took a photo of it, back in January, the gate and the windows have turned black which has done nothing to improve its appearance. The main problems are there is too much feature-less brick and the equally feature-less windows.

Richmond Chase progresses

The building of Richmond Chase continues southward.

On the east side some large Victorian style houses are being build behind a temporary fence. There are no Victorian houses in the area; this is Tudor not Canbury.

On the west side is a mix of town houses broken up by more Victorian Style houses. There are no other town houses in the area either.

At least for the moment these inappropriate houses are hidden behind a delightful forest of scaffolding.

Remodelling Latchmere House

On most of my visits to Richmond Chase the only signs of work has been on building the new houses and now I can also watch the remodelling of Latchmere House.

This is the view of the front of the house viewed from somewhere near the show house. The approach to Latchmere House used to be quite impressive as it could be seen almost as soon as you turned into Latchmere Close but now there is a wall of housing in the way with only a narrow gap to see through.

The longest view to Latchmere House will be this one, looking up the new road through the centre of the development. It is considerably less attractive and I presume that it will remain so after all the works are finished as the property's listing dictates that little can be done to it.

Back to Richmond Chase

I get drawn back to Richmond Chase every few weeks to check on progress and while there is usually little or no change between visits occasionally the work moves on and some more of the development is revealed. On this occasion the next phase of town houses were open for inspection.

The first phase, at the top of the picture, was already occupied and the frontages were stuffed with cars. Sadly this will be the fate of the whole development and the almost car-free views in the sales literature will be a distant memory.

The occupation of the frontages is happening in stages. First, and this is the good bit, a few plants and trees are planted between the houses. Then the bin stores (also missing from the sales literature) arrive and already the sweep of the road is gone. Finally the owners and their cars come and the narrow road just looks messy.

Richmond Chase Phase 2

Richmond Chase Phase 2 is still behind a barrier but there are gaps in it so I am able to monitor progress. The biggest changes since I was last there are the planting on the front right and the wooden bin stores outside of the townhouses on the right.

Bland house in Latchmere Close

Another construction project nearing completion is this house in Latchmere Close that is being squeezed into the odd shaped piece of land behind Latchmere Lodge. The construction seems to be a decent standard but the appearance is decidedly bland. There are too few windows for the amount of brick and the windows that are there are lack any decoration.

The next stage of Richmond Chase

I keep visiting Richmond Chase to see if there is anything new to see but the second stage of the development has been hidden behind barriers for several months. Then I went there when the barriers were lying on the ground, probably due to the recent strong winds, and I was able to look into the development.

This is looking down the main street with Latchmere House behind me. The road has an interesting kink in it which the lone tree suggests might be a planted area.

Looking round to the left the backs of houses in Garth Close can be seen, for the moment.

As Richmond Chase develops it is starting to look every bit as dense and unimaginative as the publicity material suggests. I'll keep visiting to see how it progresses and I'll also keep hoping that it looks better when completed.