'Renovating' cobbles

[Minkeycat]

Hi All

The current job is to prevent any further deterioration of the cobbled path that runs round our house. I've been sweeping them today to reveal the extent of what needs doing which I'm finding to be quite a blister-causing task.



It seems that the cobbles are simply laid into earth. Would this be right? It's not a very even path but this simply means character to me. There's a kind of pattern in it so I'm wondering if I can just locate any loose stones and set them back in with a rubber mallet. It seems a bit optimistic that. I guess I'm after a way of making them look like they haven't been disturbed but I'm concerned that this is a skill and I've not done it before.

The 'wall' along the side had collapsed prior to our ownership of the house. I'd like to get this edge sorted too. I think a weak but dry cement mix might be the answer there but any suggestions welcome.

All the best

 

[88v8]

These were an olde-time home improvement. A big step-up from m u d.
Yes, they're just bedded. Sometimes, they're bedded on end, like teeth, we've found some remnants, but that uses far more stone.

The process is rather like dry-stone walling, pick a flattish stone, find a suitable size of hole for it, lay it in place. Ideally, larger stones along the edge so they'll better resist overturning but I see yours has been neatly edged with small stone which is OK so long as it's not walked on. Perhaps bed on a bit of sand, but probably that wasn't how it was done.

A labour-intensive job from an era when labour was cheap, and it will need perpetual light maintenance if only to keep the weeds out.

The wall down the edge, perhaps left-overs from the larger area alongside which from the pic looks to be later and of lesser quality.
You might consider dispensing with it, and just marking the boundary with a row of old red bricks.
If you want to rebuild the wall, lime mortar would be much more suitable than cement. Cement is the enemy of the period house.

That cobble path is a wonderful and rare survivor. I'm glad you value it.

Ivor

 

[JoceAndChris]

No idea how to restore it but what a lovely path!

 

[DavidB]

I agree, what a lovely feature.

 

[88v8]

Looking again at your pic, I see up by the door a formed gutter of cobbles on edge. Presumably it's present all the way down, just obscured by mud.
What a wonderful feature. A real Roll-Royce of cobbling.

I would keep it swept with a bass broom, and the gutter with a bassine. After a while the blisters will callus over.

Ivor

 

[a twig]

Whereabouts are you? As that looks very much like a pathway I had to move a piano down a few months ago...

 

[Minkeycat]

Thank you 88v8. It is a lovely path and sweeping it is requires new broom technique to get every side of the stones and you're right about the blisters! It's very slippery when wet so we try to keep it algae free which I'm told is possible with boiling water with salt in it or just bleach. It does all the way round. It used to be a fully cobbled street all the way round the houses but at some time in the past, it got somewhat neglected further down. The path in this picture does continue all the way round the corner.

 

[88v8]

Jeyes Fluid is good for un-slipperying paths.
Lasts a few months between treatments.
Available in your local hardware shop.

Ivor