Trivia:
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.

Current:
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.

Gallery:
Thanks to Thomas Swift, we have these fantastic photographs to share with you:

	The services today.
	The petrol station
	Inside the MSA
	Restaurant
	More restaurant.
	1960's view
	1960's view

Received votes so far and a sample of comments:

People who prefer this MSA	34
People happy to visit	15
People who avoid this MSA	31
Selection of comments received	Very good service area. - 2005-05-29 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 - 2005-07-08 Distinctive circular roofs on both sides - services should be refurbished - 2005-07-18 The view of Pendolinos snaking up the Lune Gorge at 100mph is unparalleled by any other services - 2006-01-30 Second best services in the UK (Tebay West is the best) - 2006-04-12 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. - 2006-06-19 This is one of the more difficult service areas to cope with if you have problems with stairs. - 2006-06-24 its really fab! i love chilling there with my wife, rachael! the fountain is good for romantic walks ;) - 2007-01-31 the best MSA in the UK - 2007-10-16 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) - 2008-03-09 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 - 2009-03-21 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. - 2009-04-09 Still havnt got over Roy Harpers description ! - 2009-10-23 Excellent spot for hitch-hiking - 2010-08-09 I worked at the watford gap north in the late eighties early nineties, the food was crap , it was way too expensive, but the atmosphere was fantastic. - 2011-06-05

This is a very old site, and we used to have a voting/comment system here, but for now it is turned off, sorry. Please also note the comments above are very old too and won't necessarily reflect the current state of the site and reflect the opinion of a visitor to the website, not the view of the website operator.

This page is not associated with any company running any Motorway service areas. It is semi-archived and some parts are out of date. Terms and notices. If you have any information you would like to contribute or correct, please email: contact@msatrivia.co.uk