Much of the discussion surrounding resin driveways and resin footpaths has been focused on the transformative new looks the material can provide, and there are some good reasons why people have been particularly excited about resin-based landscaping.

However, whilst that is an important part of what resin can do for your home or garden, what resin perhaps does best is not so much create a new look or design but preserve whatever is stored within it.

What makes resin so special as a material is that it maintains a protective seal over the materials that are used to make the drive or footpath itself, creating a beautiful look that lasts for years.

However, whilst this is typically used to create new, stronger footpaths and surfaces, could it potentially be used to help preserve and protect older ones?

This concept is not dissimilar to the role of amber in nature. Amber is a tree resin that has fossilised over millions of years to perfectly preserve whatever creatures or fragments of nature were captured within it.

Amber has been prized for its beauty and historical significance for over 2000 years, with a tradition of use in jewellery that is almost as long as the one for gold.

Tree resin and the epoxy resins used in driveways are fundamentally different, but epoxy resin has long been considered a potential solution for restoring and preserving historic structures made of organic materials.

There are so many different types of historic paths out there, from old causeways to Roman roads to sweeping paths of gravel or stone popular with the likes of Capability Brown.

However, the nature of a footpath or driveway is that heavy use inherently risks damaging, changing and shaping it, particularly for pathways that were not designed for a huge amount of foot traffic or even to be used by motor vehicles.

This could lead to fundamental changes in its design and the need for constant maintenance to ensure that the surface remains level and fit for purpose. In some cases, such as rock causeways or roads that use historic materials such as tiles or mosaics, replacements might not be readily available.

A possible alternative could potentially be to use resin to preserve a traditional path, either the original version of it or by replacing the surface with a resin-bound alternative using the same or extremely similar materials.

The key advantage to this would be far less maintenance; rather than requiring constant groundwork, landscaping and repair, a resin footpath can be simply swept and kept clean and it will retain its look for decades.

Despite this, it will retain the same signature look, given that the resin itself is transparent, and it would even maintain its drainage qualities, something that is essential given that erosion and standing water are two major causes of damage to historic footpaths.

Ultimately, the choice of whether to retain the historic look of a path or create something new is down to the individual, but in many cases, a resin footpath could be the key to long-term, sustainable preservation.