Dying garages in Cave Road

I have always been interested in the many collections of garages locally and I've been paying even more attention to them recently as some have started to disappear. These garages at the end of Cave Road, they join on to Riverside Drive, have been fenced off for some months with the promise of construction but so far nothing has happened.

Garages off Latchmere Close

Another little collection of colourful garages, this time off one of the corners made by Latchmere Close as it winds along the west side of the former prison complex at Latchmere House.

The house behind the trees is in Bainbridge Close, a small development of relatively modern  houses built on former prison land. This is an unusual development in that it is gated, a silly idea that fell out of fashion not long after they were built. I think the garages are prettier.

As far as I am aware, there are no plans to develop this little plot too but that must be a tempting idea for whoever owns the land now.

Blue garages in Bishops Close

Unless you live there, or are visiting, there is little point in going down Bishops Close as it leads no where. It is not especially interesting either so there is nothing to draw you along the road. Which is something of a shame as at the very end is this collection of dark and light blue garages.

That is Martingales Close peeking above them and as a great believer in permeability I find it deeply frustrating that there is no way through to there.

All the fun of the fair

This weekend, 25/26 April 2015, the Victorian Fair makes its annual visit to Ham Common. This is a small fair for small children but the rest of us can enjoyed its exuberance and its colour. 

Garages off Dukes Avenue

I am something of a fan of garages so it is lucky for me that there are so many clusters of them across Ham. These lie between Dukes Avenue and Maguire Drive and are in better condition than some locally.

There is something of a trend (it has happened twice that I know of) to demolish garages to make space for more housing. I suspect that these, and others will be gone and, to be fair, housing is probably a better use of the land.

A side of Ham House

The combination of Spring and my increased walking means that I pop into Ham House more often that I used to. As a National Trust member it costs nothing (extra) to go there so I like to include a tour of the gardens in my walk when I am in that part of Ham.

I still go anti-clockwise almost every time as that leaves the best parts, in my opinion, to last. That includes this view of the north-east facing side wall as it peers over the tall hedge that hides the mysteries of that part of the garden.

Cat in Craig Road

I first photographed this cat in Craig Road from some distance in 2008 because I wanted to show it in its setting. It has not moved since then and I decided that it warranted a second appearance here, this time with the benefit of a decent zoom camera.

Spring flowers in Ashburnham Road

The landscaping is one of the nice things about the Wates Estate and I have published many photographs of trees, squares and plants over the years. And here are some more.

I do not normally walk along this stretch of Ashburnham Road as, like almost everybody else, I usually take the short-cut past St. Richard's Church as I head from the shops towards Broughton Avenue. It was the slash of colour in the corner that made me take the longer route.

This use of flowers is not typical of the Wates Estate, where the emphasis is more on shape than colour, so I suspect that this is some guerrilla gardening from the residents. If so then they should be very pleased with what they have achieved.

Out of character repair to the towpath

I simply do not understand how things like this happen.

When the upper path was created along the river Richmond and Kingston Councils decided to use a light gravelly finish to suit the natural setting. Now a small section of the path has been repaired by Kingston Council (just north of Royal Park Gate) with ugly black tarmac.

The tarmac is completely inappropriate for the location and there is a stark contrast to the existing path that makes the repair stand out even more. It is a mess and one that should not have been allowed to happen.