Parkleys corner

These days I am walking along Ham Farm Road even more than usual, to keep an eye on all the building projects going on there, and that means walking around this cornet where Ham Farm Roads meets Parkleys, and there have been a few changes here too.

Most of the trees in the area were removed a couple of months ago and on this passing I could see that the area was being prepared for some planting.

 

But before I could post the photo of the prepared ground more work had been done and so I am posting this update.

Behind the plastic fence grass seed has been strewn. I hope that this is just the start and that there will be some more interesting planting too.

The corner section is interesting. There used to be a series of wood posts there (I recorded their gradual demise here) and these have been replaced by more substantial concrete ones.

Further preparation

It is over two years since I first noted that this mid-terrace house in Upper Ham Road was being prepared for a refresh and nothing visible has been done to it, until now.

Apple trees

I have been so busy watching The Hive rising on Ham Village Green that I have overlooked the apple trees recently planted in the north-east corner along Woodville Road.

Every little improvement like this to Ham Village Green is a reminder of what could be done to Ham Common if it had the same attention.

Unstoppable

The unit on Ham Parade that Mervyn Smith used as a temporary location (while their original was repaired) is being brought back into life quickly as Unstoppable Training Studio,

Bare trees

I last took a photograph of these trees when they were pollarded in March 21 (with a much less dramatic sky) so I was a little surprised to discover them pollarded again and at a different time of year.

25 Ham Farm Road looks good

This time, I made a point of visiting 25 Ham Farm Road in the morning when the sun is at the best angle to see the front and on a Sunday when, as hoped, nobody was working there (the person you can see in the house is a reflection!).

The house looks good and the structure of the front garden is good too. This is going to be a fine addition to a road that has a few other fine houses (and some less interesting ones too).

Completed but unnumbered

When I last posted a picture of this conversion of a pub to a house, back in April, there was still some touching up to do; that has been done and the house is on the market for an optimistic £1.9m.

Of course it looks like a former pub and it you look closely at the glass in the door it says, "Saloon / Off Sales" so that link remains.

I was going to label this post with the house number but I have no idea what it is. The planning applications are for "The Royal Oak" and the Royal Mail address list says "Ham Village Centre".

Mervyn Smith swap

After an extended stay two doors down, Mervyn Smith is now back in its original home on Ham Parade.

 

Meanwhile the temporary home is being reworked, either just to remove all traces of Mervyn Smith or to prepare for a new tenant. Hopefully the latter as there are already several unused and underused units on the struggling Parade.

Noisy works

Noisy work was going on at the BP garage at Ham Cross for a few days, and access was restricted during that time, the end result of which is that nothing much seems to have changed. 

The drainage grill across the exit was replaced but it looks the same as before so something else subterranean must have been done.