Very high tide

I have seen many high tides at Teddington Lock, and elsewhere locally, but never quite as high as this one. Previously I have seen the water on either side of the weir at the same height but this time the water was visibly flowing upstream over the weir at some pace.

Jude Gate

I am pleased that the house that has replaced Jude Gate on the north side is also called Jude Gate and it has a sleek sign to prove it.

It was also good to have a quick word with the new owner and to talk about the old house and previous occupants that we both knew.

Hammertons Ferry sign

I posted a picture of the other sign of the Hammertons Ferry sign, which shows the operating hours, earlier in the year and I missed the opportunity to show this side with its pleasing design; an error that I am glad to rectify.

Ham House

Over the years I have posted several pictures of the back of Ham House explaining why that is my favourite view of it and I thought that, in fairness, I should post one of the front too. 

From this distance it looks grand and imposing with neat geometry. It is when you get closer to the house and the details start to become obvious that I find it overly fussy which detracts from the neatness of the overall design.

Business as Usual

While this sign next to Teddington Footbridge may claim that businesses on the other side are open as usual, I suspect that the significant works being done to replace the ramp at the Teddington end have had an impact on Flying Cloud as the cafe is almost hidden by the works which also make it a less attractive place to sit.

A collection of windows

In anticipatng what this remodelled house would look like, I never considered this. The grey windows were not a secret, a shame but not a secret, and the roof extension was not much of a surprise either, but the positioning and the number of windows in the roof was.

Most dormer windows are in the rectangular part of the extension facing away from the central ridge of the house but these are on the triangular sides. There may be other windows, particularly as these are facing north east, but because of the position of the house, alongside the footpath to Teddington, these are clearly visible and it will take some scrambling around to check for others.

Trench to Jude Gate

The section of Ham Common trapped between the main road and the access road in the north west corner is bit of a mess with quite a lot of tarmac compared to the area of greenery and it was made more messy when this trench was constructed to bring services to the rebuilt Jude Gate.

Tree at risk

One of the planning applications submitted for the various works at Gordon House is 24/T0614/TCA which is for the removal of a few trees, including this one. It would be a shame to see it go as it has a positive impact on that part of the Common.

New sign for Fox and Duck

Fox and Duck is under new management and one of the first signs of this is the new sign, and it's cute.

I like the simplicity of the picture and the large amount of black that makes it clear what the picture is. I also love that they dropped the word "the", clearly following my recommendation from four years ago!