New entrance to Ham Close

Work on the surface areas of the new Ham Close development is in its final stages and one of the things that has been completed is the new entrance from Woodville Road, complete with white and yellow lines.

79 Woodville Road

Nothing particularly remarkable here, just another informative, clear to read and aesthetically pleasing house sign.

Ham Close exposed

For two years the work on the first phase of the Ham Close redevelopment has been largely hidden behind boards but these have now been replaced by a metal chain-link fence exposing the ground floor to full scrutiny for the first time.

This block is facing on to Woodville Road and the entrance appears to be in the recessed section as that is where the letterboxes are.

Approaching the new Ham Close

With most of the scaffolding gone from the first blocks of the new Ham Close it is possible to start to see how the development will fit into its surroundings, and so far it kooks good.

This is the view looking east along Woodville Road. Here the trees do a decent job of hiding the block even devoid of leaves and what can be seen looks fine too.

Walking past and looking west the new block has the much the same shape and scale as the old one. Any fears that the new development would oppressively dominate Woodville Road have been shown to be unfounded.

Ham Close emerges

The Ham Close redevelopment will shape the heart of Ham for a generation and more so it is encouraging that the first part of the first block to emerge from its scaffolding looks good with the protruding sections and the variation in brick colour successfully breaking up the bulk of the building.

Green Fire Hydrant

When I first posted a picture of this Fire Hydrant sign in Woodville Road, back in 2018, it was faded and quite missable whereas the bright green paint (British Racing Green perhaps) makes it stand out proudly.

Apple trees

I have been so busy watching The Hive rising on Ham Village Green that I have overlooked the apple trees recently planted in the north-east corner along Woodville Road.

Every little improvement like this to Ham Village Green is a reminder of what could be done to Ham Common if it had the same attention.

Woodville Road closed

Woodville Road is closed for a couple of days to accommodate a very large crane that is lifting stuff  into the Ham Close redevelopment.

Different porches

The house on the left ruined the character of this section of Woodville Road so it is hard to criticise the mismatched porch being added next door, especially as elsewhere along the road a number of new porches have been added and they are all quite different.

This one also has the advantage of appropriately coloured tiles.

Different Woodville Road street signs

Woodville Road is one of the many local roads where its street signs are in a different style. I find that there are differences interesting, as it suggests a job half done, and I also like the review the styles of each one individually.

The first of these two signs is the more recent as shown by the slight serifs and the inclusion of "Ham".

I think it looks a little cramped; the kerning is quite tight, see how the "D" and "V" encroach on each other, and there is little white space at either end.

The older sign is the simpler with no serifs and no kerning. It also has a strangely large gap between the two words.

Second entrance

Having enclosed all of the initial development site for Ham Close some hoardings have been removed from at the east end of Woodville Road to create another entrance.

Ham Market Garden

I was unaware of Ham Market Garden until I saw this banner on Woodville Road, which just goes to show that banners like this work.

Blue boards

The enclosure of part of Ham Close in preparation for complete redevelopment is all but complete and the recently installed boards are being painted a fetching dark blue.

Ham Close Road Closed

The barrier around the start of the Ham Close redevelopment that I saw the start of a few days ago has slowly spread to Woodville Road and now blocks one of the roads into the estate.

White paint

I posted a picture of this fencing above a wall in Woodville Road when it was added in 2019 and then it was left as plain wood. Five years later it has all been painted white and draws attention to the property. I am not convinced that it works but that just may be its newness and the initial surprise in seeing it.

A new school garden

The entrance to St Richard’s CE Primary School is in Ashburnham Road and the site stretches across to Woodville Road and it is from there that this new garden can be seen.

I like the business of the scene with the new beds ringed by a frame, glasshouse, plastic greenhouse and two compost  bins.

Resurfaced

The car park of The Woodville Centre in, obviously, Woodville Road has got a new surface and new markings. I understand the economics of the decision but, as with the garages in Ferrymoor, I wish that a way had been found to do something a lot more environmentally friendly. 

Parking area closed

One of the ugly parking areas in Ham Close, this one is in the north-west corner alongside Woodville Road, has been closed off with two bright yellow pillars. It is several years away but Ham Close will look a lot better without areas like this.

Matched bricks and tiles

Woodville Road remains a hotbed of extensions and it is good to see that this one has made such a good job of matching the bricks and the tiles. It is getting the basics right that help the extended house fit in with its neighbours. Obviously I approve of the solar panels too.

Odd one out

This is one of those cases where I fail to understand both why someone wanted to do this and why it was allowed to happen. Once upon a time this was a neat terrace of four houses in Woodville Road, now it is a mess.