Ready for repairs

The No Waiting bollards are to keep Petersham Road free for overnight repairs which, so far, are being done keeping one lane open to traffic.

I had a look at a section of the road that has already beed done and the repairs there were pretty extensive, approximately half of the surface has been redone.

Incidentally, the road is so narrow in that section that I am surprised that on-street parking is allowed anyway.

Empty shops

I have shown all of these empty shops before individually and I wanted to show them collectively to make a point about the decline of Ham Parade and the chance to fix it that got turned down.

All three of these shops have been empty for some time with little sign that they are coming back to life. And alongside these empty shops there are three charity shops on the Parade which while in use are not regular shops.

 

These unused and little used shops show that Ham Parade is in a bad place and somethign needs to change if it is to thrive again. There was a proposal from Richmond Council to save the Parade by removing the slip roads and pedestrianising the east side. 

Remodelling areas to make more space for people, and a little less for cars, has consistently made those areas more popular with people, brought more footfall and helped the local businesses. It really was the obvious and best thing to do.

 

Sadly Richmond Council treated the consultation as a referendum and they took account of the number of negative voices rather than quality of any arguments they may have had aganst the scheme (there were no good arguments against the scheme). So nothing is going to change and Ham Parade's decline will continue.

Ferry Open

Hammertons Ferry, by Ham House, has a new sign announcing its operating hours. 

It is a little surprising that it operates as much as it does, e.g. all winter, and that supports the argument that the much discussed proposal for a new footbridge in that area is worth pursuing. Personally I would like to see another bridge as I do a lot of walking at night, when the ferry is not operating, and the lack of bridges is a real constraint on where I can go.

Growing sideways

As I said earlier, one of the reasons that I am interested in the redevelopment of this house in Ham Street is because I had been inside a few times but there are other reasons, those being it is a major change to what was originally a fairly small house and, thanks to its location, it is easy to see the work from several angles.

This angle shows the size of the side extension which takes the end of terrace property to the edge of the site.

Large family

I was strolling along Meadlands Drive when I came across this mum looking after a large brood (with dad standing nearby) all of whom have managed to squeeze under her for comfort and safety.

Fenced off

While the view of the footbridge is excelent from the lower path further on, at this point the view is spoilt by a long stretch of temporary fencing.

Reinforcing the island

The ambition of the Ham Pond island restoration project is shown by the substantial metalwork installed to define the new extent of the island. It looks like a modest enlargement but the main point will be to provide some sort of permanence.

Randle Road extension

All the little changes being made to individual houses add up and gradually change the appearance of an area, like this rear extension in Randle Road (viewed from Craig Road) that matches that of its neighbour. Soon it will be hard to remember when dormer windows were rare and something to be commented on.

Best view of the bridge

The simpler of the two spans of the Teddington Footbridge is still very pretty, especially when recently repainted and viewed from the lower path on the upstream side. 

The upper path has the better surface and so is much busier and while its height improves the views across the river these are sometimes blocked by trees in which case the lower path is a better place to be.