Setts not cobbles : Rochdale : March 2023 : pattern and texture
Church Stile, the 'old' roadway out of the valley of the River Roch, its bridging place and the Parish Church, still retains its surface of setts. These were probably laid, correctly, decades ago and you can see that they are set in bitumen to allow the surface to 'flex'. Too often you see them set in cement that just fractures. I know these as 'setts' as I was taught 'cobbles' were laid undressed stones whereas these, probably granite, are dressed as so are setts.
If you look carefully you can also make out the stainless steel 'studs' marking out the centre of both the 'main' road and the street branching off to the left. Popular from the 1920s onwards these studs were, before paint technology, regarded as having greater longevity than white lines. Seems to have worked here!
Setts not cobbles : Rochdale : March 2023 : pattern and texture
Church Stile, the 'old' roadway out of the valley of the River Roch, its bridging place and the Parish Church, still retains its surface of setts. These were probably laid, correctly, decades ago and you can see that they are set in bitumen to allow the surface to 'flex'. Too often you see them set in cement that just fractures. I know these as 'setts' as I was taught 'cobbles' were laid undressed stones whereas these, probably granite, are dressed as so are setts.
If you look carefully you can also make out the stainless steel 'studs' marking out the centre of both the 'main' road and the street branching off to the left. Popular from the 1920s onwards these studs were, before paint technology, regarded as having greater longevity than white lines. Seems to have worked here!