Huntingdonshire
Old Village and New Development: Imprinted Concrete for Both Sides of Alconbury
A brook running through the middle of the old village and a brand new settlement on the old airfield. Alconbury asks two completely different design questions.
Family run since 1990
Over 30 years installing decorative surfacing
Based in Sawtry
Local team, Cambridgeshire properties
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Imprinted Concrete in Alconbury
The brook side and the airfield side
Old Alconbury is a brook village. Alconbury Brook runs through it, the green and the older houses sit close to the water, and the frontages down the lanes are irregular, often reached over a small bridge or a shared entry, and rarely square to anything. Alconbury Weston next door has the same character. On these plots the design work is about fitting a usable parking area into a shape that was never planned for cars, and about being careful with levels near a watercourse.
The other Alconbury is the new development on the former airfield, where the housing is current estate stock: tight plots, integral or shared garages, small rectangular parking areas and a consistent modern palette of grey frames, dark roofs and buff or grey brick. Those frontages are simpler to build on and the pattern scale is the main decision, because there is not much area for a large pattern to repeat across.
The two also sit on different ground. The brook side is alluvial and low, with the water table close and levels tight; the higher ground away from it is the clay that runs along this side of the A1. Imprinted concrete is a sealed surface, so on a low frontage near a brook the drainage design is the first conversation, not the last one, and it is settled before the colour is chosen.
Driveways, patios and paths are the three things we install. Read what each one involves or why people choose imprinted concrete.
Make It Your Own
Colours and patterns for Alconbury properties
The old village mixes warm brick, render and some stone detailing, and it takes sandstone and autumn brown well. The new development is a modern grey and buff palette that suits slate grey and charcoal with a lighter or contrasting border. Ranges change, so what is available is confirmed at the point of quoting rather than promised in advance.
- SandstoneNatural stone tone
- Brick RedClassic heritage
- Slate GreyModern charcoal
- Autumn BrownRich amber
See the full colour and pattern section for photographs of the finishes, or ask us to bring samples when we visit.
Before Anything Is Poured
Ground, access and drainage in Alconbury
Near the brook the priority is levels: how the frontage sits relative to the water, where run off currently goes, and making sure a new sealed surface does not push water towards the house or the boundary. On the newer estate frontages the practical points are the service covers, the shared edges with neighbouring plots and the fact that the parking area is often small enough that the setting out has to be exact.
Recent Projects
Finished work worth comparing against your Alconbury property
For a tight modern frontage, the charcoal ashlar driveway with the contrasting red border shows how a border rescues a small rectangle. For an old village plot with an awkward shape, the random stone finish around a shaped panel is the more useful reference, because it shows the pattern working around a non rectangular edge.
A European fan pattern driveway in buff imprinted concrete, framed by a stamped brick border and a channel drain. 
A rear patio in buff ashlar imprinted concrete, shaped with a curved terracotta border against the lawn. 
A patio in grey wood plank imprinted concrete: the look of decking boards in a single poured, jointless surface.
Five-Star Rated
What customers say
EXCELLENT Based on 12 reviews on Google. These are the company's own Google reviews and are not attributed to any particular town.
Rated 5 out of 5.
Had these guys do my garden from a recommendation. They have done a fantastic job . My garden now looks amazing. Anyone who's thinking of having a garden makeover or a new drive I highly recommend this company. 10/10
Questions
Alconbury imprinted concrete questions
- Do you install driveways in Alconbury and Alconbury Weston?
- Yes. Alconbury is in the service area we publish and it is only a few minutes from our base at Sawtry. Send the postcode through the quote form or call 07949 078999.
- My house is close to the brook. Does that rule out a concrete surface?
- Not on its own, but it changes what has to be designed. Imprinted concrete is a sealed surface, so on a low frontage near a watercourse we look carefully at levels, at where water currently goes and at whether a channel drain is needed, before deciding on the layout. If we think a site is not suitable we will say so.
- I am on the new development. Are the plots big enough for this?
- Yes, though the pattern scale is the decision that matters most. Small rectangular parking areas suit cobble, brick and smaller random stone patterns, which repeat properly across a short run, better than large slab patterns which can look oversized. A border helps a small area read as finished rather than as a plain panel.
- The entrance to my plot is over a small bridge. Is access a problem?
- It is something we need to see. Access affects how the materials and the ground work are handled, and a narrow or weight limited crossing is worth telling us about at the enquiry stage rather than on the day. It rarely stops a job but it can change how one is done.
- Can you shape the driveway around an existing hedge or wall?
- Yes, and on the older Alconbury plots that is usually the point. A poured surface can be set out to a curve or an irregular edge, which is one of its advantages over a material that has to be cut to fit. The border is what makes a shaped edge look intentional.
- How do you decide how deep to dig?
- By what we find and by what the surface has to carry. A patio and a driveway do not need the same build up, and clay, made ground and alluvium all behave differently. That is why the depth is confirmed after a site visit rather than quoted from a standard figure.
- Do you need a water supply or power on site?
- It helps, and it is one of the practical things worth agreeing when the dates are set rather than on the morning of the work. Tell us at the visit what is available.
- Can a patio and driveway use different colours?
- They can, and sometimes it is the right call, particularly where the front of the house and the back garden have completely different characters. More often people choose one colour with different patterns or borders, which keeps the property coherent without making both areas identical.
- What happens to the ground I lose from the lawn?
- It is excavated and taken away as part of the work, along with the old surface where one is being removed. What comes out and how much of it there is affects the quote, so it is one of the things we look at when we visit.
- Is imprinted concrete suitable for a shared access?
- It can be, but the ownership and the rights over the access need to be clear first, and everyone with an interest usually needs to agree what happens at the joins. That is a conversation for the quoting stage.
- Do you work on new build properties still under warranty?
- Yes, though it is worth checking your own paperwork before changing anything at the front of a very new house, because some developers place conditions on external alterations for a period after handover. That is between you and the developer rather than something we can advise on.
- How do I get a quote in Alconbury?
- Use the quote form on this page with your postcode and a rough size, call or WhatsApp 07949 078999. Say whether you are in the old village or on the new development, because they are very different sites.
Areas We Cover
Near Alconbury
Each of these has its own page, written for that place rather than this one.
Get a Free Quote
Request a quote for your Alconbury project
Tell the team whether you are planning a driveway, patio, path or another suitable imprinted concrete project. Include the postcode and an approximate size or a short description, and Driveway & Decking Co. can talk through the next step and arrange a quote or a site visit where that makes sense.
Prefer to talk it through?
- Telephone
- 07949 078999
- Message us on WhatsApp
- Address
- 23 Glatton Road, Sawtry, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 5SY