Grey roofs

Despite the many different shapes and sizes of extensions added to the houses in Burnell Avenue there has remained a uniformity of style in the roofs; until now. All the other roofs in the street are a shade of terracotta, except for one small side extension, which makes the choice of grey for these three roofs surprising and unwelcome.

Welcome to Meadlands School

This is the third piece of art at Meadlands School that I have featured here so they have definitely got their priorities right. This Welcome sign is, unsurprisingly, by the front door but, surprisingly, is partially obscured by a bush that will hide it further as Spring takes hold.

Preparations

On a damp and blustery Thursday afternoon people were busy preparing for something in Burnell Avenue Open Space and were erecting a marquee.

 

And nearby, but not too close, was a line of temporary toilets.

I suspect that it was for one of the many run events that go through the area each year but the pirpose does not really matter, I am simply recording that they were there.

Hacked

The destruction of the wildlife corridor through Royal Park Gate continues despite the best efforts of Kingston Council and the promises of local residents who promise to do nothing on the Council owned land not to do any work that is not in accordance with the area's management plan, promises that are all too often and all too quickly broken.

This is criminal damage but, once again, the culprits will get away with it through lack of hard evidence and their unrealistic protestations that they did not realise that they were doing anything wrong.

This section of Royal Park Gate is now an ugly disaster.

Door in the wall

I think this is a new door that is being added to the wall on the approach to Ham House from Ham Street though I am happy to be persuaded that it is a repair to an existing one.

Extra seating

I had seen some work in progress on recent visits to the Kitchen Garden at Ham House and this time I found out what they were working on. There are two new seating areas a little bit away from the main seating just outside Orangery café which I will make a point of using later in the year, on this occasion the cold convinced me to have my coffee and cake indoors.

200,000 bulbs

I usually (but not always) take pictures of The Plats facing Ham House so I thought that I would do something radical and take one facing the other way; this is the reverse of my favourite view of the house from close to the rear gate to the Kitchen Garden.

I was standing on the Terrace listening to Ham House's head gardener explain how they are taking account of Climate Change in the gardens, in an event organised by HUG. One of the many things she told us was that they had planted 200,000 bulbs in The Plats, which I felt was worth passing on.

Sculpted hedge

The cone shaped Box in the foreground tells you that this is the Cherry Garden at Ham House but they are not the important thing here, the sculpted hedge behind is. This was the first time that I had noticed the hedge being shaped like this so I am tempted to call the decorations "new"; at least they were not there when I list posted a picture of this hedge only six years ago.

Red mesh

There is a very satisfying jumble of scaffolding poles on the east side of Ham House and that alone would have demanded that I take a photograph; the red sheen created by the protective mesh is a cute bonus.