No driveway specialist listed in Portpatrick yet.

A driveway specialist lays new driveways and refurbishes existing ones - block paving, tarmac, resin-bound stone and concrete, including the sub-base and drainage that determine whether the surface lasts.

Front gardens of more than five square metres need planning permission unless the surface is permeable or drains to a soakaway, so check before laying impermeable materials.

Get the falls right - water should run off the driveway, not pool against the house - and ask for an SUDS-friendly approach if the area is prone to surface water.

Portpatrick is a picturesque harbour village on the west coast of the Rhins of Galloway, facing the Irish Sea with views across to the coast of Northern Ireland on clear days.

The village was the original Scottish terminus for the short sea crossing to Donaghadee in Ireland, before the route shifted to Stranraer in the 19th century.

Portpatrick has a sheltered harbour, a row of colourful houses along the waterfront, a golf course on the clifftops and several good hotels and restaurants that make it a popular weekend destination.

The Southern Upland Way, Scotland's coast-to-coast long-distance path, begins - or ends - at the harbour steps in Portpatrick.

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Dumfries and Galloway is the most south-westerly council area in Scotland, stretching from the English border at Gretna to the Mull of Galloway - the southernmost point in Scotland - and from the Solway Firth coast inland to the hills of the Southern Uplands.

Dumfries is the largest town and administrative centre, a handsome red sandstone burgh on the River Nith where Robert Burns spent the last years of his life and is buried in St Michael's Kirkyard.

The region divides naturally into three historic areas: Dumfriesshire to the east, Kirkcudbrightshire (the Stewartry) in the centre and Wigtownshire to the west - each with its own character, landscape and loyalties.

The Galloway coast and countryside have a mild climate influenced by the Gulf Stream, fertile farmland, dark-sky reserves and a string of small harbour towns that attract artists, writers and visitors drawn to the quiet and the landscape.

Despite its size, the region is one of the most sparsely populated in Scotland - a place where community is strong, the pace is slower and the landscape ranges from river valleys and rolling farmland to wild moorland and rocky coastline.