Thanks for comments. I did have a preference for brick edging and tarmac as you describe Mags but OH said definitely no tarmac so the compromise is the two remaining options. I agree Loo is does look shiny which I think looks wrong would much prefer to look like brick/stone. One company says the shine fades a bit within a couple of weeks but all the examples I see around look quite shiny -however looking around at blockpaved -very few people seem to keep them weedfree and as we are both very busy I suspect we will be in this category.