Monday, May 18th, 2026
Three hours. That’s all it took to renew the bottom half of the driveway. The men and their heavy equipment arrived at 7:30 and got to work immediately, removing the old surface, laying new a new base foundation and topping it off with a deep layer of tarmac right up to where the gravel starts. At half past ten, it was all done. Barely ten minutes later, the heavens opened. I just had time to chalk up a sign warning drivers not to venture up before having to rush indoors. The surface has to solidify overnight and will be good to use from tomorrow morning.
I’m told the new surface should last for thirty to forty years. This work was certainly overdue as the poor driveway has taking a hard beating over the past few years while various building works and renovations were taking place. Central heating oil always used to be delivered in smaller trucks on request, but these days we are never offered the choice, and those enormous trucks are largely responsible for the ever-deepening ruts and depressions, which we’ve been covering up with gravel without getting to the root of the worsening problem. We thought about a patch and repair job, which would involve getting the potholes filled in the same way as the highway agencies fill the holes in the lanes, but we found a local company that gave us a good price for resurfacing the whole thing. This will provide a much smoother experience for us and our guests driving up (the slope is steeper than it looks in this photo). Maintenance will be a lot easier too.