Hampstead Row Houses (and Rows over Houses)

September 18th, 2011 · 36 comments

David spotted this oh-so-charming scene while cycling through the well-to-do area of Hampstead, London.

Adds David: “The completely knackered fence is in front of an overgrown plot and right next door to a well looked-after house (possibly owned by old folk who are convinced the neighbourhood has gone to ruin.”)

This disgraceful eyesore of a fence is owned by a firm of architects. A profession dedicated to the art of landscaping!

This disgraceful eyesore of a fence is owned by a firm of architects. A profession dedicated to the art of landscaping!

Meanwhile, Alison was a bit perplexed by this note (and the seemingly undisturbed hedge below) in West Hampstead. “I stared at the hedge for ages trying to work out what was wrong with it,” she says. “Finally I just took a picture and ran away.”

We apologise for the state of this hedge. It is the result of an act of vandalism by a resident in this building. We are taking action.

We apologise for the state of this hedge. It is the result of an act of vandalism by a resident in this building. We are taking action.

related: An eye for an eye, an eyesore for an eyesore

extra credit: An American’s Guide to Britishisms [effingpot.com]

FILED UNDER: flowers, trees, houseplants & gardens · London · public shaming · there goes the neighborhood · vandalism


36 responses so far ↓

  • #1   fred

    The first picture looks PhotoShopped to me ….

    Sep 18, 2011 at 6:57 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

    • #1.1   cosmiCrusader

      lol, just a bit

      Sep 19, 2011 at 4:22 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
    • #1.2   GhostWriter bang

      That disgraceful excuse for a photo was created by a firm of… web designers, a profession dedicated to the art of mashups.

      Sep 19, 2011 at 12:12 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
    • #1.3   Nahhh bang

      HOW many suns does London have, anyway?

      Sep 20, 2011 at 4:35 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
     
  • #2   JetJackson

    I thought Landscaping was the profession dedicated to the art of Landscaping.

    Sep 18, 2011 at 9:38 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

    • #2.1   FeRD bang

      That’s true. Architects are all about the art of Architecting.

      Sep 19, 2011 at 2:52 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
     
  • #3   Neeners

    When good hedges go bad…..what the hell is wrong with it? How do you vandalize a hedge?

    Sep 18, 2011 at 9:44 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

    • #3.1   kermit

      Well the most obvious way to vandalize a hedge is to sculpt it into something that looks obscene.

      Sep 18, 2011 at 11:26 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
    • #3.2   FeRD bang

      Most obvious to YOU, maybe! Not all of us are frickin’ Michelangelo. I’d probaly just pee on it.

      Sep 19, 2011 at 2:54 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
    • #3.3   kermit

      Oh come on how hard it is to trim a hedge into a giant penis.

      As the recent dick drawing note demonstrates, verisimilitude is not only not expected, it is frowned upon.

      Sep 19, 2011 at 10:41 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
    • #3.4   The Elf

      Gives whole new meaning to trimming the verge, doesn’t it?

      Sep 19, 2011 at 11:04 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
    • #3.5   AuntyBron

      Is that what Samwise was doing? Gosh, that explains so much.

      Sep 20, 2011 at 12:14 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
     
  • #4   Old Uncle Toe bang

    Re: The second sign. Maybe the damage was borderline superficial, but the note writer didn’t want to take any chances, so they posted the sign to hedge against complaints.

    Sep 18, 2011 at 11:03 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

    • #4.1   The Elf

      Hee hee, I saw what you did there.

      Sep 19, 2011 at 11:05 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
    • #4.2   GhostWriter bang

      They’re just making sure nobodys going to give them the brush-off; some passerbys can be so thicket’s scary.

      Sep 19, 2011 at 12:15 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
     
  • #5   Lisa

    Maybe the “vandalism” involved theft of their hedge clippers so that the hedge became overgrown.

    Sep 18, 2011 at 11:13 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

    • #5.1   cosmiCrusader

      what? you realise that theft and vandalism are two unrelated ‘crimes’? don’t you?

      Sep 19, 2011 at 4:19 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
    • #5.2   Rattus

      That would technically be theft, yes, but it could also be considered vandalism by omission.

      Sep 19, 2011 at 8:17 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
    • #5.3   GhostWriter bang

      When I stole some letters off the HOLLYWOOD sign to make it read, ” HOT WANG WOOD” I was charged with Theft and Vandalism.

      Sep 19, 2011 at 12:22 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
     
  • #6   KH

    If I lived around those houses, I would kick that fence each time I walked by it.

    Sep 18, 2011 at 11:42 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

    • #6.1   FeRD bang

      …Who are you, Dennis the Menace?!?

      Sep 19, 2011 at 2:53 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
    • #6.2   The Elf

      I’d start to whitewash it. Who knows, maybe by dinner bell someone would have fixed it.

      Sep 19, 2011 at 11:08 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
     
  • #7   Nack

    Certainly some of those little hipsters love to call it “Landscape Architect”…so maybe that’s what they meant?

    Sep 18, 2011 at 11:51 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

     
  • #8   cizzerhand

    I blame the architect for planting the vandalbush. It just seems like something an architect would do.

    Sep 19, 2011 at 1:27 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

     
  • #9   Graham

    It’s the barely contained rage of the British that results in a frenzy of angry notes and letters to the Times. I can only imagine the fury of the locals as they walked past each day tutting and muttering until they took the law into their own hands and WROTE A NOTE!!!! Not even rioters can match the vindictiveness of a little old lady in Hampstead upset at the state of a fence.

    Sep 19, 2011 at 3:42 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

     
  • #10   Grant

    Sharpie-pen, nails and MDF. For those little moments when blue-tac and biro just don’t cut it.

    Sep 19, 2011 at 4:00 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

    • #10.1   cosmiCrusader

      ya wrong, a crossbow is all you need when blu-tak and a biro wont cut it

      Sep 19, 2011 at 4:22 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
     
  • #11   MissPickles

    I can answer re: the second image. In the UK, that hedge would be considered ‘horrifically overgrown and a disgrace.’ Someone clearly hasn’t trimmed that hedge frequently enough and it’s now being considered an act of vandalism. I have had my share of passive-aggressive notes for not trimming my bloody hedge every fortnight on the dot. Ah, Brits and their damned hedges.

    Sep 19, 2011 at 8:17 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

    • #11.1   park rose

      It’s all going to the hogs.

      Sep 19, 2011 at 9:19 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
    • #11.2   The Elf

      But how could an untrimmed hedge be considered an act of *vandalism*? I mean, no one spray painted gang signs on it. Maybe “vandalism” is just one of those words lost in translation.

      Sep 19, 2011 at 11:11 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
    • #11.3   notolaf

      The sign seems to be in a window that is covered. Maybe somebody put up the sign and forgot about it?

      Sep 19, 2011 at 8:33 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
     
  • #12   Vandal

    Maybe someone vandalized the building behind the hedge and they had to keep it overgrown to hide it.

    Sep 19, 2011 at 11:30 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

     
  • #13   GhostWriter bang

    Do I count 18 chimmneys?

    Sep 19, 2011 at 12:24 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

    • #13.1   Dr. Chalkwitheringlicktacklefeff

      I count 8 chimneys and 18 chimney pots. Because I’m a massive pedant.

      See my post below for an illustrative example.

      Sep 19, 2011 at 4:52 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

       
     
  • #14   Dr. Chalkwitheringlicktacklefeff

    What the fuck does being an architect have to do with fucking landscaping!? Fuck all, that’s what. Fuck off!

    It’s like when you see notices on broken coffee machines saying “An engineer has been called”. They’re not fucking engineers, they’re at best technicians!

    I get quite angry about this sort of thing. I’ve tried taking medication, but it never helps.

    Sep 19, 2011 at 4:50 pm   rating: 90  small thumbs up

     
  • #15   April

    I agree with Miss Pickles that it probably has to do with the hedge looking overgrown and someone ELSE posted it on their building to be sarcastic and/or shame them into cutting it? That is the conclusion I came to after reading it.

    Oct 5, 2011 at 1:43 am   rating: 90  small thumbs up

     

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