Crossroads

Here choices have to be made. The path ahead leads to Petersham, passing Ham Polo and the German School as it does so. The path crossing it offers Ham House and the river to the left while a right turn takes you on to Melancholy Walk and then away from Ham Lands and the harsh urban reality of Sandy Lane.

A gathering of trees

Ham Common has a secret and it keeps it well. While it proudly flaunts the avenues of trees and the pond it is more discrete about the clutch of trees that it keeps away from the crowds in the middle of the north side.

Stafford Cottages in October

Stafford Cottages has featured here a few times simply because both the cottage and front garden are very pretty. Even in October, when the trees across the road on Ham Common are rushing to lose their leaves before the serious cold comes to steal their life.

Pink house

This is another one of those pictures that I've been meaning to take for some time but have been thwarted until now. Sometimes I have been put off by the poor light but more often it was a car on the drive that has ruined the composition. So I've kept walking past the house waiting for the moment to be right.

The fresh bold pink is the point of the picture but look past that and you can also see the cute garage doors, the pretty front door with neat side windows and the lines of flowers in the front garden.

A house in Petersham

The houses in Petersham seem to have been added randomly over the years so that many of them now sit in unusual settings. This beauty managed to find a little space along the main road between Petersham House and the narrow lane heading towards the church and nurseries.

Beat Box

The artistic endeavours at Ham Youth Centre have taken another joyous leap forward with the addition of Beat Box. Clearly this was once a humble shipping container but it is now a music studio and to celebrate this ascension it has acquires a colourful coat that proudly proclaims its new role.

Boarded up

The unfortunate story of the Royal Oak, on the corner of Ham Street and Sandy Lane, has taken another sad step and it is now firmly closed and boarded up. We have lost too many local pubs in recent years, including another one in Ham Street, and I hope that this is just a temporary set-back and that it will be flourishing again soon. I'll certainly make a point of visiting when it reopens.

A new welcome for bikes

I live about 1.5 km from Ham House and while I usually walk there I often go by bike and have had to put up with leaving it leant against a wall with a pile of others. Not now.

A number of sturdy posts have arrived at the far end of the car park ready to accept the challenge of looking after bikes while their owners explore the house and gardens.

Not only is this an excellent idea for meeting a clear need but they look good too.

Secret field in Ham Lands

Stepping away from the towpath that follows the river as it flows East towards Ham House plunges you in to the secret world of Ham Lands with its mixture of woods, fields and confusing paths.

The towpath lies just past the trees on the right and there walkers, joggers and cyclists fight over a narrow rocky path unaware that a short distance away there is wide open space and peace.