Driveways for Bradford’s stone and slopes

Bradford was built from the stone under it, and most older houses here are local sandstone: terraces climbing the hillsides, grand merchants’ villas in Heaton and Manningham, and stone cottages in villages like Thornton and Haworth. Saltaire is a World Heritage Site, and the old centre of Haworth is a conservation area. A driveway or patio here sits right next to that stone, so colour and texture matter more than in most places.

We usually steer people away from bright red or very dark blocks next to honey-coloured stone. For block paving in Bradford, buff, natural and brindle tones with tumbled edges sit far more comfortably, and setts make a good border. Behind the house, a natural stone patio in sandstone or reclaimed Yorkshire stone suits a stone house much better than anything bright and new.

The other thing Bradford has is height. Queensbury and the villages around it sit high and exposed, and plenty of drives fall steeply to the road or towards the house. We set levels so water goes where it should, put a channel drain where the slope meets the garage or the pavement, and haunch the edging in concrete so nothing creeps downhill. The council grits the roads, not your drive, so on a steep slope the texture of the surface matters as much as its colour. On long or very steep drives, tarmac with a stone-coloured block edge gives good grip and a clean line, and it’s quicker to lay than full block paving.

Dropped kerbs across the district are approved by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council as the highway authority, including in Keighley, Bingley, Shipley and Ilkley. We don’t build them, but we’ll tell you what’s involved and make sure the new drive lines up with the crossing. If you’re weighing up surfaces, our comparison of block paving, resin and tarmac sets out the trade-offs, and Bradford sits at the centre of our West Yorkshire area.