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Donington
Leicester Forest
Newport Pagnell
Northampton
Scratchwood
Tibshelf
Toddington
Trowell
Watford Gap
Woodall
Wooley Edge
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Technically, the first Motorway Services in the UK. However, when it opened,
the buildings were not ready so food was sold from temporary sheds!.
Opened on the same day as the M1 Motorway
Very popular with pop stars in the 1960's. Urban story has it that Jimi
Hendrix thought Blue Boar was the name of a London club, becuase so many
of his contemporaries mentioned it.
Blue Boar were offered the opportunity to develop the site to compensate
the loss of business to thier existing facilities on the A5. They were
offered Newport Pagnell too, but in the end that site was developed by
Forte
The government originally intended this site to be "Lorries Only"
In 1977 an artist called Roy
Harper released an album called 'Bullinamingvase'
which originally included the song 'Watford Gap' with its lyric 'Watford
Gap,
Watford
Gap, a plate of grease and a load of c**p'.
Later versions of the album did not feature the song as a member of the
EMI board was also a member of the Watford Gap's board of directors.
Recently
taken over by RoadChef, who have invested heavily practically removing
all trace of the existing buildings and building new facilites.
Thanks:
Thanks to John Ferguson &
Thomas Swift for help with this page.
Thanks
to Thomas Swift, we have these fantastic photographs to share with you:
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The services today. |
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The petrol station |
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Inside the MSA |
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Restaurant |
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More restaurant. |
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1960's view |
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1960's view |
| People who prefer this MSA |
| People happy to visit |
| People who avoid this MSA |
| Selection of comments received |
Very good service area. 29/05/2005 12:24:57
If you leave the M1 for this MSA too quickly, youll crash. I love the challenge of an MSA access road as much as the next irresponsible driver. Contrary to the comment above, the road that leads to London Gateway is a goat track 08/07/2005 16:22:53
Distinctive circular roofs on both sides - services should be refurbished 18/07/2005 11:03:57
The service in the food connection is excellent, and the staff are very polite and helpful, it is not their fault everything is so expensive. 01/11/2005 17:21:50
great views!! 27/12/2005 14:21:26
The view of Pendolinos snaking up the Lune Gorge at 100mph is unparalleled by any other services 30/01/2006 21:50:36
this is the worst service station i have ever come across 10/02/2006 13:49:38
Second best services in the UK (Tebay West is the best) 12/04/2006 23:11:09
Fair (though still not good) area for dog exercise. Although there are 6 million of them in the country, sadly neglegted by most MSA planners. 19/06/2006 11:44:40
This is one of the more difficult service areas to cope with if you have problems with stairs. 24/06/2006 14:24:18
It is always heaving when I go and you have to fight through hoards of people to get to the toilets. If you are sitting at the tables you have a stream of people going from the sid eentrance to the toilets. Must be nice when not so busy though. 01/08/2006 21:20:22
its really fab! i love chilling there with my wife, rachael! the fountain is good for romantic walks ;) 31/01/2007 18:22:57
Visiting at night is not a good experience! And the price of the luke-warm dishwater that attempted to pass for tea was an insult to anyones intelligence. 16/09/2007 18:24:10
the best MSA in the UK 16/10/2007 14:49:59
dirty toilet,poor shower facilities,bad parking,come on MSA lets get to grip and make it one of the best just like truck stops abroad where they look after truck drivers 20/11/2007 21:12:56
Ticket machines bust, then you get letter for over stay. avoid 13/01/2008 19:11:01
On the numerous occasions we make the trip from Scotland to visit my family in Yorkshire, we tend to use Southwaites as it is on the route. They have a decent size dog exercise area, the food is ok but as any MSA is overpriced 25/01/2008 05:34:21
another hgv driver with 50pound fine for being 20minutes over 2hours wilst spending aleast 20pounds in their shops! glad i drive abroad and dont have use truckstops much in this country. thanks lymm (so called truckstop) 09/03/2008 16:19:03
Good Food... 28/04/2008 19:40:06
parking con!! 06/05/2008 21:48:53
its very clean good food car is safe overnight very pleased will use again 21/05/2008 10:08:42
Overpriced dump like the rest of them. 20/10/2008 20:23:15
dirty place with awful food 01/12/2008 13:01:41
? First met of John Rostill with Cliff Richard and The Shadows in 1963 (BEAT MONTLY issues 10 1964) article: John didnt ever really audition for the Shadows. He was with the Terry Young Six at a concert at the Queens Theatre, Blackpool, when he fi 21/03/2009 09:31:25
For a sense of history you cant beat Watford Gap! OK, so newer MSAs might be nicer, but this is an authentic part of the UKs motorway history and you cant help but feel that when you stop here. 09/04/2009 23:28:22
food here is appauling. service poor. 27/05/2009 08:48:08
Avoid at all costs. Asked for an English Breakfast, was instead served with a 2 foot long baguette with lobster and pineapple. The so-called LPG filling pump only produces steam, not autogas. Ruined my fuel system. 20/09/2009 19:36:35
Still havnt got over Roy Harpers description ! 23/10/2009 12:11:56
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