TQ10: the A38 corridor at South Brent
TQ10 straddles the A38 where it runs along the southern edge of Dartmoor. Painted render, cob and granite in the villages, slate above, and one factor that separates it from every neighbouring district: a dual carriageway running through the middle of it.
TQ10 covers 6 places we work in, 11.4 to 14.9 miles from our base at 58 Reddington Road, Plymouth (Devon, South Hams District Council) - all inside our 20-mile radius of Plymouth.
Questions we get asked in TQ10
- My wall is grey rather than green - what is it?
- Near the A38 that is almost always road film. It washes off, but it needs a detergent rather than a biocide.
- Does traffic noise mean you cannot work there?
- Not at all - it just changes what the wall needs.
- When is the worst time for gutters here?
- After hedge cutting, and again after autumn leaf fall.
Road film on properties near the A38
Houses within a few hundred metres of the carriageway pick up a grey traffic film that people often mistake for general weathering. It is soot, tyre rubber and brake dust, and it sits on top of whatever biological growth is underneath.
It needs washing off with a detergent first; treating for algae without removing the film just leaves you with a clean grey wall.
Moor edge above, farmland below
North of the village the land rises to the moor at Wrangaton and the conditions are wetter and colder. South towards North Huish and Avonwick it is sheltered farmland. The same treatment lasts noticeably longer on the southern side.
Gutters and hedge-lined lanes
Properties along the lanes here get a lot of hedge debris in the gutters, particularly after cutting season. It is a different blockage to leaf fall and it packs harder.
Reached via A38, B3210. Recorded wall finishes: painted render, cob, granite. Roof coverings: slate, natural slate.