No driveway specialist listed in Grantown-on-Spey 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.

Grantown-on-Spey is a planned town on the River Spey, founded in 1765 by Sir James Grant of Grant and laid out around a broad, tree-lined central square that remains the heart of the town today.

With a population of around 2,500, it serves as a quiet alternative to Aviemore for visitors to the Cairngorms National Park, offering a good selection of hotels, guest houses and independent shops in an attractive Georgian setting.

The town sits at a crossroads between the A95 Speyside route and the A939 road south over the moors to Tomintoul and Deeside. The Spey itself provides excellent salmon and trout fishing and the surrounding pine and birch woodlands are rich in wildlife, including red squirrels and ospreys.

Grantown has a strong community identity with its own museum, annual Highland Games and a range of local clubs and societies. It is about 25 miles south of Inverness and well placed for access to the whisky distilleries of Speyside.

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Highland is the largest council area in Scotland by land mass, covering more than 25,000 square kilometres from the Cairngorms in the east to the Atlantic coast in the west and from the Moray Firth northward to the tip of mainland Britain at Dunnet Head.

The region takes in an extraordinary range of landscapes - the Great Glen, Ben Nevis, Loch Ness, the Cairngorm plateau, the Flow Country peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland and hundreds of miles of rugged coastline dotted with fishing villages and sea lochs.

Inverness is the regional capital and the largest settlement, serving as the administrative, commercial and transport hub for the entire north of Scotland. Beyond Inverness, the population is spread across market towns and remote communities - Fort William beneath Ben Nevis, Aviemore in the Cairngorms, Thurso and Wick on the north coast, Nairn on the Moray Firth, Dingwall in Easter Ross and dozens of smaller settlements connected by single-track roads and ferry services.

Despite its remoteness, Highland has a diverse economy built on tourism, whisky distilling, renewable energy, forestry, aquaculture and a growing digital sector enabled by improving broadband connectivity. The region's cultural identity is deeply rooted in Gaelic language and tradition, clan history and a strong sense of place that draws visitors and new residents alike.

Transport links converge on Inverness, with the A9 running south to Perth, the A96 east to Aberdeen, rail services to Edinburgh, Glasgow and London and an airport at Dalcross. The more remote communities depend on trunk roads, the scenic rail lines to Kyle of Lochalsh, Wick and Thurso and the ferry services that connect the west coast to the islands.