Driveways and patios built for West Yorkshire’s hills

West Yorkshire changes quickly over a short drive. In the west, Halifax and Huddersfield climb the steep sides of the Calder, Colne and Holme valleys, and most older houses are built from local gritstone and sandstone. Further east the land flattens out, red brick takes over and gardens tend to be wider. Leeds and Bradford sit in between and have a bit of everything, from back-to-back terraces to large Victorian villas and modern estates.

That variety is why we don’t quote from a photo. A steep drive in the Pennine foothills needs a different build from a level one on the eastern side of the county: deeper channels to catch run-off, carefully set falls and edging that won’t creep downhill. On the older streets of Bradford and Dewsbury, the first question is often whether a small front garden can take a car at all, and what sits underneath it.

Around Wakefield there are more new-build estates, wider plots and drives that need extending rather than rebuilding from scratch. In Leeds, it’s just as likely to be a long 1930s drive with tree roots, a shared boundary and a conservation area to think about. The weather plays its part everywhere: the high ground gets more rain, frost and snow than the lowlands, so we choose materials and jointing that cope with freeze and thaw, and we design drainage for the wettest weeks rather than the average ones.

Block paving suits much of the county because it copes with slopes, can be lifted and relaid neatly, and can be built as a permeable system. Every district here is its own highway authority, so dropped kerb applications go to Leeds, Bradford, Kirklees, Calderdale or Wakefield council depending on your address. The front-garden planning rule is the same everywhere: since October 2008, new hard surfacing over five square metres must be permeable or drain into the garden, or it needs planning permission.