A big thank you to John and Matt, 
.
G, 
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Hi all,
A bit of a struggle this week, I’ve been trying to do the road element, something you’d think would be relatively easy, 
…but, alas, not for me, I’ve had several failed attempts, 
.
I’ve now settled on a method that, though not entirely successful, I’m going to work with.
I wanted a worn look, so settled on a roughened surface, so used rodent bathing dust, 
.
I then started to try to replicate a worn surface.
And have now started to weather it.
There’s still a lot to be done and I need to add a couple of drains, and need to see what sort of road markings might have been around at the time.
Please feel free to critique as you see fit, all comments/suggestions welcome.
Cheers, ,
G
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Hi all,
Managed to get started on one of the areas of pavement over the weekend.
I did find an image of a road corner where the kerb stones were, alternatingly, painted white, but not sure if this was limited to just corners, .
Therefore, if anyone following this build knows what sort of road markings might have been appropriate in Britain in WW2 for this sort of situation I would appreciate their input, .
Cheers, ,
G
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Spectacular G. It looks photo - realistic. I could convince anyone that this is 1:1 scale.
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" During World War II the Pedestrians Association lobbied for the government to make it safer for pedestrians to walk during the black out. As a result, white lines were painted on the sides of the road and pedestrians were allowed to use a small torch.[61]"
From this Wikipedia article: Road surface marking - Wikipedia
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Mate, you have outdone yourself. All the first 6 images without obvious modern bits in the background are 1 to 1 perfect. I double checked a few to make sure and I have been watching from the start !! This is your best brick/pavement work and urban foliage to date.
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G, you are unstoppable! 
—mike
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A very big thank you to everyone above for their very positive feedback and links, it really is greatly appreciated chaps, .
I’m going to be cheeky now, if I may, , and ask for your view on something that occurred to me last night . Rather than have the worn areas of road smooth, would it be reasonable to presume that the road surface would be layered over old cobbles, and would it be better to hint at such, or best left as it is, .
I’ve tried it on one small area, thus far, so as to make it easier to reverse if it’s a no-no, 
.
If anyone else has other ideas please feel free to voice them, .
G,
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Asphalt laid over the old cobbles. Yes!!!
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I agree with Buckeye.
Adds a lot of visual interest.
Worn through asphalt over an underlying surface tends to break away in chunks when the asphalt layer gets too thin to survive, the chunks leave edges.
Patched for the umpteenth time
A poster by Martin Wahlborg showing worn asphalt over cobblestones
Another, less interesting, option would be sharp edges with gravel/sand potholes
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Yes, great idea. Go for it.
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It adds even more depth to an already brilliant scene.
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From the photo attached by @Uncle-Heavy it’s not only legitimate but would give an opportunity for more contrasting colour. However, those “cobbles” look surprisingly regular. Forgive me for again posting something I think you already have, but this location is only a few hundred yards from the shore and uses water-worn rounded beach cobbles:
Regards,
M
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They were cut to regular sizes, the rectangular ones are a larger type.
There are also smaller squares (or rather cubes) about 3 inch sides.
These quarried and cut stones are called ‘setts’ or Belgian blocks.
The ones in the photo/poster have been worn smooth, horse drawn wagons with
wooden wheels and steel “tyres” …
Roads were also laid with cobble-stones which were natural “round” stones.
The cut stones were a HUGE improvement since they provided a “smooth” surface that was
easier on feet, hooves and wheels.
Mixes of the various types are possible, old road gets repaired, two roads of different age/importance/traffic volume. In Stockholm we have all those types, also a longer loaf-shaped type, in the Gamla Stan (Old Town) area. The natural “round” ones are painful to walk on, requires sturdy Army boots or steel reinforced workboots (I avoid that street or use the smooth curb stones)
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Thanks to everyone above for their prompt feedback, and for the images, as always you chaps come through with much needed, and appreciated advice and comments, .
I’ve had a quick play about, especially given Robins images, and have tried to give the edges a rougher appearance.
Before…
After…
Thanks again everyone, 
,
G,
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There’s also the economic factor, cobbles are naturally occurring and only require collecting, sorting and transporting white setts require quarrying and cutting to shape. I suspect setts only came into general use when the production could be (at least in part) mechanised.
On the other side of town from the cobbled alleyway in the photo there was a street along the front of a terrace of high-class town houses. It was a right-of-way much used by miners and around the time of shift change-overs the racket from their iron-reinforced clog soles on the cobbles was very disturbing; hence, for a time, the road was paved with wooden blocks…
Cheers,
M
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In Sweden we started using setts from around 1920
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Hi all,
A small update, .
I cobbled together about half a dozen drain covers, these are made of strips taken from old greetings cards which were glued to a strip of thicker card and then coated with lashings of pva glue.
In-situ drain cover primed with red oxide acrylic paint.
A second one, unprimed, this is set amongst exposed ‘cobbles/setts’, the idea being that this one will be ‘blocked’ and flooded once finished.
I have also finished scribing ‘cobbles/setts’ within some of the worn areas of tarmacadam, they still need painting and weathering.
Cheers, ,
G
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Hi all,
Another small bit of progress, .
I’ve blocked in some basic colour to the ‘flooded’ drain cover, and have added some basic texture and colour to the two manhole covers…it’s just to give the impression of not being flat, as opposed to being accurate, .
The perimeter frame to the manhole covers is a strip of paper, and the raised studs are blobs of pva glue, hopefully, with highlighting and shading, the studs will show up better, .
Cheers, ,
G
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Blimey, those few little changes have made a really significant change and given a great new look. Nice precise work mate.
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