---
title: "Grey block drive with double border, Gloucester (2023) | Solid Ground Paving"
description: "Case study: a grey herringbone block driveway in Gloucester with a charcoal double border following the curve down to the road."
canonical: https://solidgroundpaving.co.uk/projects/grey-block-driveway-double-border-gloucester
url: https://solidgroundpaving.co.uk/projects/grey-block-driveway-double-border-gloucester.md
section: "Projects"
date_published: 2026-08-06
date_modified: 2026-08-06
author: Solid Ground Paving
robots: noindex
---

# Grey block drive with double border, Gloucester

This drive falls steeply to the road, so the layout does the drainage work: a herringbone field runs the length of the slope and a twin charcoal border tracks the boundary, holding the edge and guiding water to the entrance.

## Key facts

- **Town:** Gloucester
- **Year:** 2023
- **Surface:** Grey concrete blocks with charcoal borders
- **Pattern:** 45° herringbone with twin charcoal border

## Why herringbone on a sloping driveway?

Herringbone interlocks in both directions, so blocks cannot creep downhill under braking and turning loads the way a stack bond can. On a gradient it is the only pattern worth laying under vehicles.

## What does the second border line achieve?

One course restrains the field; the second follows the curve cleanly and lets the sweep be built with full blocks instead of a run of thin cuts against the kerb.

- Edge courses haunched in concrete
- Curve built from the border inwards
- Falls carried to the entrance, not the garage

## Does the drive need drainage at the bottom?

Water is shed across the surface to the entrance where the levels tie into the existing highway drainage, so nothing discharges towards the garage threshold at the top of the slope.

## Questions and answers

Q: Do grey blocks stay grey?
A: They weather slightly in the first year then stay stable. A wash keeps the surface even across the drive.

---

Human-readable version of this page: https://solidgroundpaving.co.uk/projects/grey-block-driveway-double-border-gloucester


## Site records

- Photograph: The finished drive with a twin charcoal border following the sweep of the boundary down to the road.
  - Description: Grey herringbone block paved driveway in Gloucester with a charcoal double border sweeping to the road
  - File: https://solidgroundpaving.co.uk/__l5e/assets-v1/7323b635-3af6-4d57-814e-d10ab80e6fbb/grey-block-driveway-double-border.jpg