---
title: "Brindle driveway over a retaining wall, Gloucester (2024) | Solid Ground Paving"
description: "Case study from Gloucester: a red brindle block driveway built out over a new blockwork retaining wall, with a charcoal border framing the field."
canonical: https://solidgroundpaving.co.uk/projects/brindle-driveway-retaining-wall-gloucester
url: https://solidgroundpaving.co.uk/projects/brindle-driveway-retaining-wall-gloucester.md
section: "Projects"
date_published: 2026-08-06
date_modified: 2026-08-06
author: Solid Ground Paving
robots: noindex
---

# Brindle driveway over a retaining wall, Gloucester

A red brindle block driveway built out over a new blockwork retaining wall, with a charcoal border framing the field. Photographed on site in Gloucester in 2024; the notes below describe how it was built rather than how it looks.

## Key facts

- **Town:** Gloucester
- **Year:** 2024
- **Surface:** Block paving
- **Record:** Site photograph, own work

## What was built here?

A red brindle block driveway built out over a new blockwork retaining wall, with a charcoal border course framing the herringbone field. The build-up under it follows the same specification we use on every job: excavate to formation, compacted sub-base, laying course, then the surface itself with edges restrained before any traffic goes on.

## How are the edges held?

Every edge is restrained on concrete haunching before the surface is compacted. Edge restraint is the single most common failure point on domestic paving, because once a border can move the field spreads and the joints open.

- Excavation to a firm formation, not just a skim off the topsoil
- Compacted sub-base in layers rather than one deep lift
- Edges haunched and left to cure before trafficking

## Where does the water go?

Falls are set away from the building and taken to a channel, soakaway or permeable surface, never toward the house. In Gloucester's clay-influenced ground, getting the fall right matters more than the surface material you choose.

## Questions and answers

Q: Is this photograph your own work?
A: Yes. Every image on this site is a job we completed in or around Gloucester between 2021 and 2026. We do not use stock or manufacturer photography.

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Human-readable version of this page: https://solidgroundpaving.co.uk/projects/brindle-driveway-retaining-wall-gloucester


## Site records

- Photograph: The retaining wall carries the edge, so the border course sits on solid blockwork rather than on made ground.
  - Description: Red brindle block paved driveway with charcoal border built over a new retaining wall in Gloucester
  - File: https://solidgroundpaving.co.uk/__l5e/assets-v1/63ca7f76-78f1-4c20-bf54-bf68a54cf971/brindle-driveway-retaining-wall.jpg