Preparing the way

Something is about happen behind some houses on the west side of Clifford Road; there are various warning signs on the new gates at the end of the lane and the trees on the left have been cut back to the boundary to improve access to the site.

Final stages of Richmond Chase

I have been taking photos of Richmond Chase for over two years and it is gradually moving towards completion with opening up of the section that connects to Garth Road.

The removal of the fence there finally opens up the full view along the main road, though Latchmere House at the far end is still hidden behind sheeting as the work there continues.

The view is not ugly but it is not as pretty as the original advertisements suggested, not that it was ever going to be, and the storage bins are clearly part of the reason for that.

The houses at the end of the road look rather different thanks to the red brick. As with the rest of the development, they are impressively large houses squeezed into inappropriately small plots.

I would not want to live here though other people do and a lot of the properties have sold signs on them and several are already occupied.

Completed extension in Clifford Road

While I am watching a new extension being constructed at the Meadlands Drive end of Clifford Road, this house at the Sandy Lane end may give a clue on what to expect there. A welcome attempt has been made to match the style of the main house's windows and brickwork but it is very hard to stop an extension looking like an extension.

Extension in Clifford Road

I have walked down Clifford Road a couple of times recently and taken pictures of the building works at the Meadlands Drive end both times and as I cannot choose between them I am posting both.

What attracted me the first time was the cascade of insulation and the builder's bags in the foreground.

On my second visit work had progressed noticeably; windows had gone and the steel frame for the extension was starting to appear.

Throne

At least I think that it is a throne, it is too grand to be just a chair. Any kings or queens wanting to try it for size need to head to the area in front of Ham House, that is Ham Street behind it.

New wall and gates

There used to be a garage here and I thought that I had posted a picture of it but I cannot find it again so either I did not tag it correctly or I did not post it after all.

"Here" is Sandpits Road and this is the entrance to Ginnels House which, confusingly, is behind the house that you can see. It is part of a large project on a large house and I hope to post a picture or two of that soon; my attempts so far have been thwarted by builders' vehicles blocking the view.

Lots of wood

3 Cleves Road has gone for a very woody look. There is nothing unusual about the fence but the porch is bit of a surprise. I like the shape of it and the window. I am less certain about the choice of wood as the material for the porch given that the houses in the street are very much brick built. I am prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt and to wait and see how it matures.

Going blue

The pretty patch of greenery opposite the Hand and Flower is Gate House Garden which is owned and maintained by Ham Amenities Group, as the noticeboard there attests. That noticeboard was plain wood for many years and now it has gone Manchester City Blue.

New gates

These two houses on Back Lane have replaced the fence between them and added two matching gates. The wood looks very fresh and smart and I wonder if that is about to change with some preservatives or paints. Another walk down Back Lane will soon tell.