01
Boggart Hole Clough
A 190-acre wooded valley park with a boating lake, an athletics track, playgrounds and steep paths through the trees - one of the city's oldest parks.
Learn more about Boggart Hole Clough
Driveways In Blackley
Want a proper driveway on your Blackley home without the runaround?
Block paved, resin bound and tarmac driveways plus patios across Blackley, Higher Blackley, Charlestown and Crumpsall
Blackley is next door to Middleton - Higher Blackley runs into Rhodes and Alkrington - so it is the nearest part of Manchester to us and one of the places we have worked longest. It is largely a district of 1920s and 1930s corporation-built semis, laid out in crescents and avenues by the city between the wars, with older Victorian houses along Rochdale Road and a scatter of newer builds. Those interwar houses have decent front gardens and side access, and most of what we do in Blackley is turning them into two-car drives that look right on the street.
No obligation
Free Driveway Quote In Blackley
Scott usually rings back the same working day.
About Blackley
Driveways and patios built for Blackley houses and Blackley ground
Manchester Corporation built most of Blackley between the wars as one of its big garden-suburb estates - semi-detached houses in brick with hipped roofs, set back from wide roads around Victoria Avenue, Charlestown Road and Middleton Road. Many are now privately owned and have been extended, and the original narrow drives and grass fronts are being converted into parking. Higher Blackley and Crumpsall have larger Edwardian and interwar homes, particularly around Crumpsall Park and Heaton Park's southern edge. Charlestown and the roads down towards Harpurhey have terraces, and there are newer estates on former school and hospital land. Blackley Forest and Boggart Hole Clough give the area more woodland than most of the city.
The whole district sits in the valley of the River Irk, which means heavy glacial clay with a high water table on the low ground and better-drained slopes above. Corporation drives of the period were laid as thin concrete straight onto the clay, and nearly a century of ground movement has cracked most of them. Blackley gets around 850mm of rain a year, on a par with the rest of the city. Deep bases and edges set in concrete are what stop a new drive here going the way of the old one.
20+
Years Laying Drives
Middleton and North Manchester
7
Surface Types
Resin to porcelain, one crew
Free
Site Visits & Quotes
Written, itemised, fixed
10 yr
Guarantee
In writing, terms and conditions apply
Services
Every surface we lay, available in Blackley
From £70/m²
Resin Driveways
Resin bound stone laid over a properly built permeable base. Smooth, weed-free and SuDS compliant without a planning application.
Learn more about Resin Driveways
From £60/m²
Block Paving
Herringbone, basketweave or stretcher bond in clay or concrete block, cut in tight to edges and kerbs. The driveway Middleton asks for most.
Learn more about Block Paving
From £45/m²
Tarmac Driveways
Hot-rolled tarmacadam with a proper binder course underneath, framed in block or kerb edging. The most cost-effective surface for bigger drives.
Learn more about Tarmac Driveways
From £65/m²
Printed Concrete
Pattern imprinted concrete in slate, cobble and flagstone textures, colour hardened and sealed. One continuous slab, nowhere for weeds to start.
Learn more about Printed Concrete
From £75/m²
Patio Installation
Patios built on a full mortar bed with falls set away from the house, steps, retaining walls and drainage included in the design.
Learn more about Patio Installation
From £80/m²
Indian Sandstone
Calibrated Indian sandstone in Raj Green, Kandla Grey, Fossil Mint and Autumn Brown, laid on a full bed and pointed with a resin jointing compound.
Learn more about Indian Sandstone
From £95/m²
Porcelain Paving
20mm vitrified porcelain slabs primed and laid on a wet bed for a patio that will not stain, fade or green over through a Manchester winter.
Learn more about Porcelain PavingAlso
Groundworks, drainage and walls
Excavation, footings, soakaways, retaining walls and steps. Usually part of a drive or patio job, sometimes the whole job.
Why us in Blackley
What a driveway in Blackley gets from a Middleton firm
- ✓Next door to our base, so site visits are quick and there is no travel time in the price
- ✓Interwar corporation semis given full-width drives with new edging and a base rebuilt across the whole area, not just the widened strip
- ✓Manchester City Council dropped kerb applications handled with the drive, so the two land together
- ✓Surfaces that drain - permeable block, resin bound or a channel to a soakaway - so the front can be paved without planning permission
- ✓Patios, steps and garden walls in the same visit, with drainage falls designed for Irk valley clay
“Cracked original concrete is what we find under close to three quarters of the Blackley front gardens we convert to driveways.”
Based on jobs handled by S P Groundworks & Driveways.
The guarantee
Every drive we lay in Blackley is put in writing
A driveway is a structure. The part you see - the block, the resin, the tarmac - is 50 to 60mm of the 250mm we build, and it is the 200mm underneath that decides whether it is still flat in ten years. So our guarantee is written around the bit that matters: the excavation depth, the compacted MOT Type 1 base, the edge restraints haunched in concrete and the falls that move water off the surface. If any of that lets you down inside the ten years, we come back and put it right at our cost. Terms and conditions apply, and you get them on paper before we start, not after.
- Sub-base depth and compaction stated on the quote, not left to chance
- Edging set in concrete so the surface cannot spread or rock
- Settlement, sinking or lifting caused by our work put right free
- Materials backed by the manufacturer on top of our own cover
20+
Years in the trade
The same name, the same phone number, the same man on site
10 yr
10-year guarantee on every job
Terms and conditions apply. Handed over in writing at the final walk-round, kept on file at our end too
How we work
Seven steps to a driveway in Blackley that stays flat
Most of what goes wrong with a drive goes wrong in steps three to five, which is why they are the ones we spend the longest on.
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Free site visit
Scott comes out, measures up, looks at what is under the existing surface and how the ground drains. On Blackley clay that visit is where the real decisions get made.
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Written, itemised quote
Excavation depth, sub-base spec, edging, drainage and the surface all listed with a fixed total. The price on the paper is the price you pay.
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Excavation and sub-base
The old surface comes out completely. We dig to the depth the ground needs - never less than 150mm of MOT Type 1 for a drive - and compact it in layers with a plate or roller.
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Edge restraints
Kerbs, block edging or aluminium trims are bedded and haunched in concrete before anything is laid, so the finished surface cannot spread or rock.
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Drainage and falls
Linear channels, gullies and soakaways go in now, with falls set so water leaves the surface and stays inside your boundary as the rules require.
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Laying the driveway
Screeded sand and machine-cut block, hot-rolled tarmac, hand-trowelled resin or floated and stamped concrete - laid by the same crew that did the groundwork.
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Handover and guarantee
We walk the job with you, sweep and sand-in or seal as the surface needs, take the waste away and hand over the ten-year written guarantee before we leave.
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Want to see the steps on a real job? The projects page has every one of them photographed on the day we finished.
Drag to compare
What a Blackley front could look like
Two of our own jobs, photographed the day we arrived and the day we left. Slide the handle.
Resin
Concrete side yard to resin path
Stained concrete lifted, drainage channel added, silver resin bound run to the garage
Porcelain
New-build lawn to porcelain patio
Developer turf lifted, base and drainage put in, large-format porcelain with a raised bed and step
Out and about
What to do in Blackley while the drive cures
Block paving can be walked on straight away, but resin needs a day and tarmac wants an afternoon. Three good reasons to be out of the house.
02
Blackley Forest
Woodland along the Irk between Blackley and Middleton, planted in the 1950s and now a local nature reserve with riverside paths.
Learn more about Blackley Forest03
Heaton Park
The southern gates of Manchester's biggest park are on Blackley's doorstep - the hall, the lake, the farm centre and miles of parkland.
Learn more about Heaton ParkWhere we work
Covering every part of Blackley
We are based on Ennerdale Road in Middleton, M24. Site visits across Blackley are free and usually within a few days of your call.
Video
See the finish before you book in Blackley
Short phone clips from the day each job finished. Silent until you tap one.
Reviews
What customers around Blackley say
★★★★★
“Scott and his lads did my driveway this week and did a brilliant job. They turned up when they said they would and finished the job on time. No messing and no BS. The lads liked their tea and were friendly. Great job, great price and great team.”
Michael I.
New driveway · Google review
★★★★★
“Scott gave us good honest advice from the first visit. The completed job was exactly what we wanted with a high quality finish and lots of comments from friends and family. Definitely went above and beyond, and for a very reasonable price.”
Sarah
Middleton · Block paved driveway
★★★★★
“Brilliant work done by the team. Completed the work in a timely manner, very neat and professional. Would highly recommend.”
Sajida R.
Manchester · New driveway · Google review
★★★★★
“Scott has amazing team and so quick really excellent work.”
Jacqueline O.
Google review
★★★★★
“Scott and his team arrived early, worked through and finished the whole drive by Sunday. Excellent workmanship at a competitive price - we could not be happier.”
Lesley
Heywood · Resin driveway
★★★★★
“Ian at SP created a driveway for us that surpassed our expectations. A fantastic, clean, exact job. He is a credit to the company.”
Laurie
Chadderton · Tarmac and block driveway
Rated 5.0 out of 5 from 4 reviews on Google. Read more on our reviews page or the Facebook page.
Pricing in Blackley
A guide price before anyone comes out
Our per-metre rates are the same in Blackley as they are in Middleton - there is no travel loading. Tarmac from £45/m², block paving from £60, printed concrete from £65, resin bound from £70, Indian sandstone from £80 and porcelain from £95, all including excavation and the base. Use the slider for a range, then book the free visit for a fixed figure.
What moves the price up or down →Instant guide price
Roughly what will it cost?
Pick a surface and slide to your approximate area. A typical two-car drive is 40 to 50m²; a rear patio is often 20 to 35m².
10m²150m²
Guide price range
£2,700 to £4,050
Includes excavation, sub-base, edging and the surface. Excludes VAT where applicable, retaining walls and dropped kerb fees. Every real quote follows a free site visit.
FAQ
Driveway questions from Blackley
Do I need planning permission for a driveway in Blackley?
For most houses, no. Manchester City Council follows the national rule that a front drive needs no application if the surface is permeable or the water drains to a lawn, border or soakaway on your own land. We build every Blackley drive to that standard. Listed buildings and the city's conservation areas are the exception, and we check your address before we quote.
My front is grass with a narrow concrete drive - what can you do?
That is the classic Blackley job. We take out the old concrete and the grass, dig to a proper depth, lay and compact a Type 1 base, set edging in concrete along the boundary and the path, and lay block paving or resin bound across the whole front, usually with a planted strip kept along one side. If the dropped kerb is too narrow for the new width, we apply to the council to extend it.
How much does a driveway cost in Blackley?
A typical two-car interwar semi front comes in between £3,500 and £7,500 depending on the surface - tarmac from around £45 per square metre, block paving from £60, resin bound from £70, all including excavation and the base. The full guide is on our driveway cost page and every quote is written and fixed.
Do you cover Crumpsall, Harpurhey and Moston as well?
Yes. From Middleton we cover the whole of north Manchester - Blackley, Higher Blackley, Charlestown, Crumpsall, Harpurhey, Moston and Cheetham Hill - and the Manchester page covers the wider city.
Service area
Also covering the towns around Blackley
Book a free driveway site visit in Blackley
Scott will come out, look at the ground and the old surface, and give you a written fixed quote. No pressure, no sales patter, and no obligation to go ahead.