Britain’s Oldest Motorway Services Hits Retirement Age

Watford Gap on the M1 motorway turns 65 this year. Detour takes a nostalgic look back and a glimpse into the future.

On the very same day that the M1 opened for business (2 November 1959), so did the Blue Boar Watford Gap services, some 70 miles north of the motorway’s north London start. Designed by the architect of several iconic cinemas for Odeon it soon obtained star quality. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd would stop their tour buses for an early hours fry up. Gerry and the Pacemakers’ Gerry Marsden said it was perfect for a “quick stop and a quick nosh.” Jimi Hendrix reportedly thought it was a nightclub.

By the 1970s, however, Watford Gap was beginning to lose its appeal. On his B-Side to One of Those Days in England folk singer Roy Harper declared: “It's the Watford Gap, Watford Gap. A plate of grease and a load of crap.”

Watford gap has been run by RoadChef since the 1990s and the company is well aware that a refresh is now lomng overdue.

“Watford Gap services is the jewel in Roadchef’s crown,” RoadChef’s head of marketing Amanda Mason, told Autocar. “Customers have a strong emotional attachment to it and there are still people living nearby who, as teenagers, would drop in to see which stars were returning from gigs late at night. But as the gateway to the north and south, both sites need to evolve. People’s reasons for wanting to visit – to rest, to eat and to refuel or recharge – will remain the same but we need to secure the business for the future and make sure Watford Gap is sustainable.”

Ideas for the site’s development include increasing its capacity for electric vehicle charging by using solar power, creating landscaped gardens to replace at least some of the drab grey concrete and adding sustainable food and drink to the menus.

There’s no date set yet for the renovations, but if Watford Gap hopes to regain its celebrity status the current site will need to be retired very soon.

Photo Shutterstock

---