Wet varnish

The shop that was the much missed M&J Hardware had been boarded up since last summer without much sign of it coming back to life so it is good to see the boards removed and work being done on the building.

Night lights on a building site

I was surprised and delighted to find these lights on at this house in Sandy Lane. I was out for a night time walk (I have a daily step target to reach) and was not intending to take any photographs until this interestingly lit jumble of construction materials and scaffolding forced me to stop and enjoy the scene.

Lurid green nets

Ham Common has been scarred by the new lurid green cricket nets which have become the most visible thing on the Common to the detriment of everything else.

To show the impact I took this photo from some distance away (the tree intruding on the left shows that I was on the edge of the common) and even though the nets are a small part of the scene the dominate it.

I can only hope that the awfulness of these will has be appreciated by those responsible for them and that they will be replaced quickly.

Matching houses

Having posted a picture of Vine Cottage with its new roof yesterday I wanted to post a picture of its neighbour, Jude Gate, today to show the similarities between the two. Both have new simple grey slate roofs and it very much looks as if Jude Gate is being painted the same colour.

New roof for Vine Cottage

When I caught Vine Cottage in the act of acquiring new roof timbers recently I expressed the hope that the old slates would be retained but they were not and I was wrong; the new slates look better.

Preparing for Ham Close redevelopment

The much awaited redevelopment of Ham Close looks as though it is finally about to start with an end section of the estate being fenced off.

Parking restrictions in Church Road

I walk along Church Road several times a week, and at different times and while I am quick to moan about badly parked cars I cannot recall this ever being a problem in Church Road (except next to the church), so I was surprised to see these new posts.

They are fairly small and so not that intrusive but the road would be prettier without them.

Church Road does have a problem with cars but that is speeding, not parking. Without a pavement it is a tricky place to walk and I have had cars deliberately driving straight at me as well as speeding past close enough to touch.

Ham Open Gardens 2024

To be honest, I find the poster for Ham Open Gardens more attractive than the prospect of actually visiting the gardens.

The poster gets everything right; it is appealing and it says all the you need to know in large clear letters. This is very different to the approach sometimes adopted for Ham Fair and I hope that the simpler and clearer style will be used for all such events from now on.

Mt issue with the gardens is that I have seen most, if not all, of them many times and they lack the grandeur of those on show in Petersham Open Gardens, particularly now that the lovely garden at the convent has been built over.

I also have an issue with the way that the event is publicised on the HPA&AG describes the event on their website, which states "Once every two years, we have unique opportunity  to ...". If it happens every two years then it is not unique!!

Extension in Headway Close

When I first moved into Ham (1996) I liked the homogenous character of the Locksmeade development  and I have been saddened since then to see it gradually eroded. This recent extension in Headway Close is just one of many examples with the loft extension destroying the symmetry of the roofline.