Earlier this year we had the opportunity to work under the shadow of York’s most striking building- The York Minster. Our brief was to provide a vehicle access point to a residential property across the footpath by the war memorial. Obviously the access point had to cause minimum disruption to the residents and visitors to York while it was being constructed, additionally, it had to be in keeping with the beautiful historic surroundings. To ensure durability, we started by excavating the existing area of path to a depth of 300mm and re-laid the existing York stone kerbs to create a flush transition from the road to the footpath.

We then created a soft slope either side of the new access route to make sure pedestrians were able to walk along the path safely without a risk of stumbling or tripping over the new gentle angles where the footpath crosses the access route. We carefully cut the existing York stone slabs to create an attractive and safe shaping and set them securely on a bed of sand and cement mortar. By reusing the existing stone, the new vehicle access remained in keeping with the surrounding paved areas and provided an environmentally sound stone sourcing solution.

We then filled and pointed all the joints with ‘ultra scape flowpoint’ rapid setting grout. This was gently worked into the gaps by hand to provide a smooth and perfectly finished sound surface.

The clients and, we must add, ourselves were delighted with the finished access, maintaining the beauty of the historic street while providing a durable solution to modern vehicular access needs.