The Stray is the wide grass that keeps air in the middle of Harrogate. People walk it. That does not make it a garden. Our team builds on private ground behind the houses that edge the grass, in HG1 and the streets just off it.
The Stray is not a plot
There is no deck on the Stray in any plan we would draw. It is open land, kept as grass, and a private structure does not belong on it. If a house has a front that looks onto the grass, the front stays open. The deck, if there is one, is at the back, on the owner's own garden, where a table and a chair do not become a claim on the public ground.
A drawing that runs boards onto the grass is borrowing more than a view. Fences stay where they are. We set the deck inside them.
The same idea runs out to the villages. Spofforth has a castle green and a churchyard that are not plots either. Follifoot has its own stone centre. The Stray is simply the town's version, larger and more walked. Planning Data will show if a particular house is also in a conservation area. Many streets off the Stray are. A listed house is stricter: the Planning Portal says a deck in the grounds of a listed building is not covered by the ordinary rules for a house.
Back gardens near the grass
The gardens that matter are the private ones, often behind a stone or brick house, sometimes shallow because the plot gives its depth to the frontage and the grass beyond. A deck in a shallow garden has to be modest. The Portal's usual starting point for a house is a surface no more than 30 cm above the existing ground, no more than half the garden with other extensions and outbuildings, and nothing forward of the main front wall. Half of a short garden is still not very much. We would rather build the useful square than cover every remaining foot.
Wind crosses the Stray without much to stop it, then drops into these gardens in gusts. A light frame will be felt underfoot. We brace it. Trees on the grass and in the gardens throw shade and leaves. The void under the deck stays open so damp shade can dry. Boards stop short of the wall. Gritstone and old brick do not want a deck jammed against them, holding rain in the joint.
North Yorkshire Council is the authority for a Harrogate house. The 30 cm measure is taken from the ground already there. A garden that falls away from a tall stone house can break that limit at the outer edge even when the door feels low. We measure the outer edge.
Boards beside stone
The houses along this edge are often the town's stone, the gritstone that also builds the hills to the west. A board is chosen in that light. We bring samples and hold them to the wall, in sun and in the grey of a Harrogate afternoon. Hardwood that will silver can look settled beside stone. A wood-grained board in a quiet tone can too. A very flat, very pale surface is the one that reads as stuck on. This page is not a contest between materials. The hardwood care note is there if timber is the choice. The point here is the setting.
Where a person could fall more than about 600 mm, a guard is the usual Building Regulations idea. Many of these gardens are too low for that, and we will not add a rail that the drop does not need.
Care, roots and the visit
Mature trees near the Stray have roots that wander. We do not cut a main root to force a rectangle. The deck stops short, or the frame bridges with a post in clear ground. The BGS Geology Viewer is the wide geological picture. A root and a pocket of old ash are local, and the spade finds them.
The flood map for planning is there if a garden is low. The Stray is not the Ouse, and we do not invent a flood storey for these streets. If a particular address shows a constraint, we design the void to stay open. We do not publish a zone.
Tell us the street is off the Stray when you ask for a quote, and say whether the garden is the shallow one behind a frontage or a longer plot on a side road. Say if the house is listed. We will visit, hold boards to the stone, and keep the grass out of the drawing.
Frequently asked questions about decks off the Stray
Can you build on the Stray itself?
No. The Stray is open grass, not a building plot. Decks go in the private garden of a house nearby. The front that faces the grass stays clear.
Are these gardens too small?
Often they are short. A modest deck by the back door can still work. Covering the whole remaining garden is rarely the better plan, and the Portal's half-garden idea is a ceiling, not an aim.
Does the wind off the grass matter?
Yes. Gusts cross the open Stray and find the garden. The frame is braced, and the underside stays open so shade and wet can dry.
Do I need a rail because the house is tall?
Only if the drop from the deck is more than about 600 mm. A tall house with a low garden is not, by itself, a reason for a guard.