Shaped hedges

Wates Estate is delightfully littered with small open spaces, like this one on Broughton Avenue opposite Mariner Gardens, where the shaped hedges are an unusual and attractive feature.

Undulations

The landscaping of Wates Estate is a constant joy and I wanted to highlight this area, approaching the entrance to TYM from the south, because unlike most of the landscaped areas it is not flat. The recent mowing helps to show the contours but the best way to appreciate the undulations is to walk past it.

Another garage gone

Turning garages into habitable rooms is nothing new and this one, in Kingfisher Drive, is one of many in Wates Estate. While there is nothing particularly wrong in that, each conversion damages the consistency of the area.

Ferrymoor tree

This end of Ferrymoor may be scruffy but the tree helps to make up for that.

The garages in the bottom left have been doomed for over two years but are still there for some reason.

New flower bed

The corner where Ashburnham Road meets Broughton Avenue has always been an attractive and well managed space; I posted a picture of some of the flower beds there in 2015 and the tree was planted in 2022.

The latest change is the removal of a stretch of hedge along the end wall of the block of flats to create a new flower bed.

Flowering egg

I do not know if this hedge was trimmed in to an egg shape for Easter but it was a good idea, despite the great deal of effort it must have taken to get the shape right. And it looks even better with some flowers growing.

This is a prominent junction and also close to a parade of shops so it must be enjoyed by many people every day. 

Riverside trees

I like to celebrate the good things in Ham, the things that are so easy to take for granted, and these trees on Riverside Drive, with part of Kingfisher Drive behind them, look reassuringly commanding.

Backs and fronts

This garden square in Fellbrook deserves to look better than it does. The problem is that the road bends at a right angle with the houses on the left facing on to the road and so their rear gardens back on to the square.

The mix of rear boundaries is something of a mess whereas the front gardens of the house on the right lead neatly on to the square, as they should.

Blue doors

My wanders through Ham take me to some less visited places, such as behind the Meadowview blocks of flats in Ashburnham Road. Here I was impressed by the straight lines and the hue of the bricks so was compelled to take this picture.

But, before I posted it I checked whether I had done so before and was disappointed that I had indeed done so, back in 2021.

Then I noticed that the garage doors once brown were now blue so I had a reason to post the picture after all.

Faded sign

There are a few signs like this in Wates Estate which have been rendered meaningless by their faded illegibility. I am not sure if they still apply but there is no enforcement and no attempt has ever been made to dissuade me on my many wanderings through the area

New trees in Kingfisher Drive

Wates Estate has good landscaping but even so it is still good to see a few new trees planted to break up this long brick wall in Kingfisher Drive.

Repaving Kingfisher Drive

When Kingfisher Drive was resurfaced in 2022 I was surprised that such a quiet road warranted resurfacing and commented that the pavement repair programme also seemed to have odd priorities. That comment has become a prophecy with the equally quiet pavement also being replaced.

Grey windows

This end of terrace house in Willow Bank looks to have replaced their windows and while the designs are the same, which is the right thing to do, the light grey colouring jars slightly with the white windows  elsewhere. It is only a small jar, enough to be noticed but not enough to get upset about.

TPOs

Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) have been requested for all of the mature trees in the section of Wates Estate along Riverside Drive indicated in the map. 

I guess it is in response to the recent sale of several such plots of land across Wates Estate though it does also pose the question as to why TPOs were not requested earlier. 

Incidentaly, I had a less that helpful discussion with Richmond Council Tree Section on the subkect of TPOs a few years ago when I was looking to see if there was suffiecient protection for trees in Ham and I was told "here is not a list of TPO’s available that is accessible to the public". I noted at the time that Kingston Council has an online Map of Tree Preservation Orders.

Untypical Wates Estate

A few days ago I posted a typcal view of Wates Estate and, in contrast, here is an untypical one. This is one of the hidden squares off Ashburnham Road which one of the residents has decided to decorate with artificial grass and fish carvings.

Typical Wates Estate

Wates Estate is a lovely part of Ham thanks to its layout and associated landscaping. These houses  are on Broughton Avenue are typical and a joy to walk past.

Behind Kingfisher Drive

The first part of 2025 was notably grey so on the few sunny days it was good to see some of the prettier parts of Ham, like this line of trees doing their best to hide Kingfisher Drive from the many people out walking on Ham Lands.

No barbeques

Wates Estate is notable for its quiet landscaped squares and while they are attractive it never occurred to me that somebody might want to have a barbecue in one but, if they did, then I am not sure that this sign in Mariner Gardens would be much of a deterrent.

Little Free Library

While the main Ham Library is also in Ashburnham Road, on the junction with Ham Street, the Little Free Library is at the other end of the road, close to Willow Bank.

Some planting

This raised bed in the north-south leg of Ashburnham Road had been empty for a few months with a sign announcing that new planting was coming and that planting has now started. 

I could only read one of the signs, as I did not want to trample the ground, and that said "acer" so I am happy.