Abandoned Motorway Service Station - M1 Leicester
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- #abandoned #infrastructure #motorway
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We've all been to a motorway service station at one point or another... they can sometimes bring back memories of childhood holidays but as we've grown older, the service station has perhaps lost it's appeal somewhat.
One particular service station found in Markfield Leicestershire has sadly closed following years of less than average customer numbers, I thought it might be nice to explore the remains of this once vibrant place.
I’m responsible for those lights being on 😂 the site is still live as the boilers in the abandoned building provide the heating for the hotel, I’ve got loads of pictures of the inside of this if you are interested
Interesting... do you still have access to it? ;)
That be great to see, how strange leaving the heating on, suppose the place would just rot with damp, without heating on god I hope the place is not full of rats.
@@johnduggan4788 The heating is for the hotel next door.
it would be great if you could put some footage up of the interior?
@@johnduggan4788 Did you read what he said, about the, "... boilers in the abandoned building provide the heating for the hotel ..."? In the video, we are told and see from the drone footage that the hotel is still in use!
I watched this video about a month ago, then low and behold, my boss booked me in to the Travelodge next door, I had a quick look round the disused site, really creepy, and very messy, my window in the motel looked on to the disused site, tried not to think of it in the middle of the night. The whole place , including the Travelodge is a bloody dump, but the Travelodge was really busy, but really tired and worn out….
I have vague memories of this. Living local, just down the A511 near Ashby, but can only just about remember a BK.
Had no idea it closed despite being nearby and working for Moto!
Very good video cheers.
The Travelodge is useful though, Handy for the motorway and Leicester etc. and yet quite quiet.
My nearest one was near Gillingham/Rainham, Kent on the M2, known as Farthing Corner, I never ate there though, I couldn't afford it!!, everything was 3 times the price of normal shops.
They sure do like leaving stuff behind. What next, an entire motorway? Place your bets now on which one it'll be - I reckon the M67!
Staying at that Travelogue must be eerie
Looks like it has that “the shining” feel to it.
It seems like that but then it turns out to be quite dull! The nearest to anything erie used to be heading across to the petrol shop when it was still operating past the closed but weirdly still powered up main building. It wasn't boarded up then and with the over grown plants it felt a bit like being in a zombie film. 😆
A proper Urbex in the making here...
And if you do ever get inside the building and see the items that are left on the shelves, you might like to check the sell by date before helping yourself!
Looking on ZapMap there's a bit of a charging hole there! It might be a good candidate for an EV charging hub!?
It'd be perfect!
was not the Coffee Nation taken over by Costa (which was a pity as I liked Coffee Nation)
Red Leicester cheese craving commences..
Gran Turismo music at the end?
Yes it is :)
I’m from Leicester (and was actually born in Leicester Forest East) and I only ever visited that service station once. It was horrible. Have never felt so unwelcome or that I was in the wrong place. It just had a really bad vibe for some reason.
It was in a weird place, off the M1 and on the A50 at a bad junction. I went there once for petrol but that was it.
I've used it a couple of times in the past for petrol or cigarettes, mainly because it was the closest to John Lees wood where we used to LARP. It was just too inconvenient to use for anything off the motorway.
I didn't know it had closed down and I suspect most people don't care.
I blame bad ley lines.
Its blooming awful and busy, i rather take an extra 10min and drive on the A46 to Leicester North services. Its quieter and has a free water fountain to fill your water bottle. Rather than an expensive (although claimed) glacier melt water :D
I lived within walking distance of them, and can confirm the bad vibe. I always thought it was just me that felt it!
I thought I'd submitted a Super Thanks before, but I don't see it.
Auto Shenanigans is a part of my weekly wind-down... thanks for your amazing videos, Jon! ♥️
Thanks mate and appreciate you watching!
Markfield Services biggest problem was that it was not signposted on the motorway itself. I seem to recall that this was because the land that it was on was not owned by the Department of Transport. Hence, they did not consider it to be a motorway services and did not signpost it on the motorway. Unless you were a local or happened to be using that junction anyway, you wouldn't know it was there.
That's right, but as drivers learned the network they learned of its existence, but yes it was like pop 2000, it had its loyal customers, mostly professional drivers
Plus the fact that you had to actually leave the motorway at J22, then re-join. Unlike 'normal' services where you slip off/on. I had my last ever Little Chef 'meal' here, That was pretty miserable too. There was also a Burger King but I don't remember if I actually used that one. I live local , so have 'filled-up a couple of times, years ago.
I’m local and I didn’t know it was there! From Shepshed and this is literally the first time I’ve ever heard of this place
The amateur radio repeaters GB3CF (2m) and GB3LE (70cm) were around this area, the antenna mast was visible from the motorway as you passed, looking for it a few weeks ago though I couldn't see them. I no longer live in the area so don't know if the repeaters are still on the site or not, must see if I can find out.
I remember CF in particular had a stonking signal, when I first got my amateur licence in 1983 I could access it on a hand portable radio from the centre of Birmingham..! They did turn the power down somewhat later on, though and you can't do it now, more's the pity.
It’s hard to tell if some service stations are abandoned or not 😂
They should make it retro, with Granada branding and original sit down service. Add a garden centre and you would have a nice destination to go to.
R&S Records!
Yay - so the motorway generates traffic! That isn't really what they're meant to do.
With the Travelodge you could make a weekend of it.
As it was a service area before it shouldn’t be an issue.. the industrial estates to the west of there produce way more in ‘traffic’ . The kind of traffic no ones really wants (HGV’s at all times of the day/night) and those quarries don’t dig themselves or move that stuff by themselves…
@@sandwichbar8226 The first person to ever notice, well done and rave on, 'in order to dance'!
A lovely bit of knowledge for a Wednesday.
No matter where you go in this country, no matter how disused somewhere is. Travel Lodge prevails 💪🏼😂
Thanks JPH ☕️ 👍🏼
I lived in Markfield for many years. These services were without any doubt, the most miserable depressing place you could possibly imagine. Bit like Leicester....
Bit like most of the Midlands then.
Leicester is like Alcatraz - you can’t escape! I arrived in 1985, meant to be here for 2-3 years, 5 tops! Coming up to 40 years - you get less for murder (as they say)
@@stevieandthebarbies but LeicesterSHIRE is beautiful
I went to an open day at Leicester Uni (ended up going to Aberystwyth instead). Having been to Leicester before, but a different part, it struck me that one side of it looks identical to the other.
Wonder if someone like Gridserve would go for it. Has some potential i would say as an EV charge hub.
I think they might be looking into it.
I think the reason the Markfield site closed down was because the A50 was rerouted via Castle Donington, taking all the traffic from the East Midlands to places like Stoke on Trent with it. Previously the A50 ran past the site up through Burton to Uttoxeter, but wasn't convenient for people trying to get to and from Nottingham, only Leicester and Northampton. Euro Garages has at least two other sites in the immediate area, at the roundabout up the now A511 towards Coalville. As EG sites go it was pretty rundown as others have mentioned, but it was always possible to park your truck there for a while.
My mum worked at the Petrol station their until it closed. Was a run down mess, and staff always felt in danger in their as the station was so hidden from view. Eurogarages shut that site down as they were more interested in their new Asda Garage at Ashby De La Zouch, that has recently completed phase one of its build and now they are going to build a lorry park on the field next to McDonalds and the Hotel.
there was another reason,, after the Travelers constant mess and the fights ,, no one would insure the site.
Arson? - I'd never have considered that as a tool in the property developers basket 😂
Perish the thought 🤣
You want luxury flats or not?
Nothing speeds up a planning application like a bit of fire... :D
Worked for the nightclub next to St Margarets last year 🤔🤫
@@ianbonser2636 It's worked many times, in many places.
I do miss Little Chef's, No other British establishment would dare have the balls to serve a tiny steak in their breakfast meal.
(or make me wait an hour for a simple order)
Drive past this quite a lot, always wondered what happened to it! It’s crazy that big companies can just sit on such real estate and let it rot away 🤷♂️
Not really crazy. It's of no use in its current form or location hence it going out of business. Smallish buildings on a large well connected (transport wise) site make it an easy redevelopment site. Bit of landscaping to make it look attractive, quickly throw up a 1000 "prestige" home development, each going for £500,000 to buy to let investment businesses. Nothing crazy at all when you do the maths. Local and County Councils look kindly on such things as they attract a younger occupancy who while paying the full council tax need no council services other than rubbish taken away. Letting it rot and fall apart a good while before submitting the planning application for this is just standard practice - the more graffiti, used needles etc. it accumulates the more likely the planning application is going to get fast tracked.
Hope you check out more abandoned locations, love this aspect of the channel!
This is rapidly becoming my favourite channel, obviously why wouldn’t it? Cheers.
Thats what I like to hear! :D
Always amazes me how quickly nature reclaims land. The petrol station looks like its been closed a lot longer than 2020
Also probably the 1st Lockdown didn't help hence it closing in 2020. I remember using that petrol station back in 2018
In January 2022 I stayed at the travelodge there and wasn't that suprised the petrol station had closed. Just a shame it all looks a mess with fly tipping etc there now.
Buildings and land have to be maintained to be kept, otherwise nature and time will reclaim it!
The motorway service station of the 1960's may have perhaps been the glamorous destination that you describe. You don't look old enough to remember the 1970's,. However, I not only look old enough, I actually remember the 1970's. Vividly. That ten years smelled. It smelled bad. It also rusted, and is, in many people's opinion, a contender for the decade with the most bad decisions and worst taste of all time. You may regard a modern service station as a place to, "take a piss," but at least the whole service station doesn't smell of urine, as it did in the 1970's. The chips were limp and grey. The tea supported an oil slick. The decor was lurid and tired simultaneously in a way that I think is now hard to imagine. What was not plastic was rust, and the cold damp left interesting stains inside and out. It made one long to get outside and inhale the exhaust fumes and smell of petrol. The idea that anywhere on a motorway in the 1970's should be remembered with fond affection leaves me concerned for the fate of humanity. By contrast, modern services are clean, warm, dry; with mercifully well maintained and perfumed toilets. Let's have none of this romanticised nonsense. We fought long and hard to have edible junk food at such establishments. It's people like you that are the real threat to Western Democracy. Otherwise, well done for an interesting and insightful documentary. Subjects of such vital interest deserve further airing. Thank you again.
I absolutely love how you use Gran Turismo menu music in your videos. Great touch.
Moto probably just turned their attentions to their Donington Park Services at J24A (not sure when that opened). Despite living nearby (J24) and travelling past this junction many times, I don't remember ever seeing a sign on the Motorway itself to say there were services at this junction so no wonder it didn't get many visitors.
I don't think it was ever advertised from the M1. If that is the case, it was sort of a guerilla operation - not officially a motorway, but just off the motorway in a way that you hope attracts passing traffic.
Motorways went from perfect open clear fast roadways to, well, we know the joy today.
I love these videos , I’m addicted 👍🏼
Nobody goes to service stations apart from having a piss because of the rip off fuel, rip off food and rip off parking
Team up with an Urban Explorer group and they would be able to get you inside no problem lol
Ah, Leicester Markfield!
Never went, being a Leicestershire local, but seeing as it's off the motorway rather than Leicester Forest East which is just down the road, it's not surprising that it didn't last forever (although I thought it had lasted longer than 2014!)
One plus of this site is that you don't have to do the terrible merge out of LFE onto the M1 which is busy trying to either take traffic down to the M69 or the A46. It's not much of a plus, unlike the building.
Petrol station definitely lasted till 2018/19 as i used th shop to buy food while driving for HSS Hire but what he fails to mention is as you head up road to Coalville is more Petrol stations. Also the Esso garage actually excepted most fuel ⛽️ cards as all HSS vehicles had UKFUELS cards in the vehicles.
Yes Leicester Forest East is fairly close to the south and more recently Donington Park isnt much further to the north .
It's always a shame to see a perfectly good building in an accessible location go to ruin. Perhaps repurpose it as an EV charging station with a coffee shop.
I believe there are plans somewhere to convert it to an EV station in the future.
Arrr yes ...I remember the days when a stop off at a motorway services was a pure delight .... I think 😂
😂 not anymore
Big fan of the urbex element Jon...
Perhaps as automobiles have gotten more comfortable, quiet and capable of longer distances between petrol stops, there just aren't enough people stopping any more. I recall seeing the same thing in the southwestern USA in 2015-2019. Have not made any long distance trips since 2020, sadly. Thanks, Jon.
You need to get out there again and see stuff… if you can…👍🏻
Current EVs are changing this trend, there's a definite demand for reliable charging on the motorway. Plus we all still need to pee every couple of hours!
Looking on street view, you enter towards the Travelodge and you see the closed building. As you get closer to Travelodge you are greeted by a Coffee Nation sign and an open Burger King!
I've never heard anyone call a Motorway Services a 'service station' before. People normally just say 'Services'. The full, formal term Sounds quite archaic like something from the days when you couldn't really get a car across the country without stopping to tinker with it every now and then
I was looking at this in Google maps a few days ago and surprised to see it all closed up, I'm guessing it must still be owned by Euro Garages because it's exactly the sort of location the likes of Gridserve are looking for their EV charging hubs like the one they are building up at J29a. Oddly although living in the area on and off for most my life it never really crossed my mind it was a motorway services.
Somewhere for people with too much money needing to find somewhere to sit for an hour and make their journeys even longer while watching ICE cars pass down the road and refill in 5 minutes and be on their way. Yes probably….will become a hub.
@@xr6lad To be fair I rarely stop for more than 20-25 minutes any more and that's on the rare occasion I need a top-up while out, toilet stop and grab a bite to eat to take out or a coffee and off again. Back in 2015/16 taking an 80mile range EV on 1000 mile trips from Derbyshire around Ireland and back that was when EVs were fun, it's too normal now.
Stayed at Markfield Travelodge and it’s a depressing place with everything shut. Staff were lovely but they can’t make it more exciting!
I remember getting petrol at at the BP there just before the lockdowns started. The people running it were given notice of eviction and the sight was going to be redeveloped, with new fast food outlets etc . The previous restaurants and facilities had been shut years before though. I wonder why the redevelopment has never happened ?
The decline of motorway services as anything more than a piss stop isn't helped by their prices. Websites like "just off junction" mean it's trivial to find alternatives.
For example Reading services on the M4. There are McDonald's drive throughs and supermarket petrol stations within a mile of both J11 and J12, i.e. both sides of the services.
For a few extra minutes of driving you get regular prices and a much wider range of options. Bit daft really.
Yeah, I remember getting pie, chips and a doughnut from a service station once. Got to the cashier and I said, "I'm sorry, I've only got a £50 note" she said, "it's OK, just put the doughnut back"
Sounds about right :D
"Maybe one day it'll become an Insurance claim following an Arson attack or maybe redeveloped into luxury flats" That last bit got me lol
You don't mention that they empty your bank balance for a butty or a brew. People who can a afford a butty and a brew from service station use helicopters.
what country is this service station ? the eu ? the states ? of washing T on ? or uk ? or GB phishing zones ?? no just the grey area looking to fabricate a pension they have failed to earn so urn instead yes ???
you can buy ivf there through there church phone so brain rewiring plan and this is funding the entire nhs has its a private public national rail network is it not ????
I always start your videos going what's the first thing he will say to crack me up today "... and instead seen as somewhere to have piss" wins today 😆
Me too. I've got to say that cracked me up too. But my favorite one was his video on the history of McDonalds. That was an absolute classic.
Thinking about the move to electric cars, services with good food and facilities may come back in demand again.
I sometimes park up in my truck overnight there.. some massive rats lurking around..
so killed by the blight of Blackburn known as the Issa brothers. what a surprise.
Do one with the M6 near Junction 32 there a crash there evey few weeks and is badly designed.
Clearly it was left with the lights running and items inside in case of zombie apocalypse!
It's interesting seeing how centralized roadside services appear in the UK from an American perspective. Here, it's a bit of a mixed bag. There are state funded rest stops on the interstate which are simply meant for stretching and using the bathroom, and then there's sprawling roads ("stroads") that have your hotels, fast food, and gas stations. There's even buildings that combine the latter two, which appear at random. Good video.
I've just watched a FBI files about Robert Cruz jnr. Lol he stopped at a services because they gave free showers, I watched one about Robert Ben Rhoades aswell ,he picked up one of his victims from the truck stop and called her a lot lizard lol
uninteresting fact - Markfield - the highest point of the M1 route .. well in Leicestershire it is.
Electricity and products still there? Wow. It really is frozen in time.
My Dad worked there for about 10 years as on-site maintenance. He got some great perks when it was part of Granada.
I have to admit to being one of those who just uses services for a piss, unless there’s also a greggs.
you analysis of the early service station designs also crosses into generally what was the 1960s. The 60s just had grown out of the 1950s cafe design of red formica and those late 50s lamps into a refinement that was nearly the 70s woodgrain formica and anything orange and red. The sloped letters of the supermarkets and Granada were the signature of the 1960s, but the building downsides were concrete where corrosion protection and thermal insulation qualities were skimped on , imperial measurements were to the fore and everything contained asbestos - the ceiling tiles, the floor tiles, the toiler WC cisterns the lagging for the heating pipes. This left buildings that became impossible to economically repair and the rise of more of a proper off-site modular construction, may be more bland but are better C21 functionallity. Of course the Moto name and logo/s are rubbish.
I have stayed in that Travelodge recently and its spooky staying on a closed motorway services... bring on the zombies!
Excuse me, but the preferred term is “the Recently Undead.”
I used the petrol station once and wondered why it was such a dump, the next time I went to use it ,it was closed.
The abandoned motorway services is in between the new BP and Travelodge.
I used to work in the Leicester area and don't remember Markfield as a 'motorway service station', it was just a petrol station and cafe on the A50 near the M1 junction.
Petrol station still marked as open on Google Maps, submitted an edit with screenshots of your vid as evidence lol, hopefully prevent some poor souls running on fumes being in for a nasty surprise
Google maps is very bad at updating things. I recently trekked all the way into London to go to a camera store, and found that not only had it closed, but the building had been demolished.
@@Skorpychan Google Maps depends a lot on user submissions. If you are thinking of Calumet, which was on Drummond Street NW1, I'm pretty sure that building was pulled down for reasons connected to HS2. Calumet merged with Wex Photographic in 2017 to become Wex Photo Video - their London store is on Commercial Road E1.
Quite a few of the other London camera stores have gone over the years.
@@DavidWood2 It was one on tottenham court road. Nothing to do with crossrail or HS2.
I managed to find what was probably the last camera store in London, and they only had precisely one digital compact in stock. Fortunately, it was a Lumix and a significant upgrade over the old one, so it wasn't a wasted trip.
Given your recent "making of " vid I assume you are opening up a country rest area with a picnic bench, flask and his and hers bushes
That sounds delightful.
Red Leicester Cheese is from Leicestershire .. and specifically not Leicester (it's a farmhouse cheese, so cannot be made in the city) ... It used to be called Leicestershire Cheese ...
Got cut up heading north at forest east busting for a piss and missed the services, vaguely remembered this place existed. Came off the motorway, saw the services sign and turned in to see this absolute mess of green and graffiti. Ridiculous that you posted this about half an hour after I discovered it for myself😂
Theres many bushes to choose from at least...
1 word (datally) when you display this you will have to pay !!!!
I prefer the Euro Garages services to proper motorway services. Tend to operate more on A roads and they're usually smaller and a nicer, more quaint design. They all advertise an on-site Spar shop yet every single one I've been to, the Spar section is permanently closed.
I quite like a euro garages as well.
oh come on.. you can't beat the old "little Chef" services.... much better and much cheaper than the rip off services :D
Been to many of them all over the country. When we used to get there, there used to be very little available, so we renamed them "sh_t all lefts".
@@handyandy6050 yea you used to have to get there before 8am to have any semblence of something by the end of it.
Shame they finally went under a few years ago.
Although I still regularly visit a former Little Chef site in hampshire. Still obviously a former little chef, but now a dedicated biker cafe rather than a cafe that just happened to be frequented by bikers.
I know it's sub-optimal and you're in no hurry to go back but sometimes with grating like that a smartphone sensor can be small enough to see through if you hold it up against the holes.
Believe me, compared to Australia, even with no character your motorway services are far better and light years ahead of our dirty, small, congested poor planned versions on our freeways. Want to swap??
It's strange because over here most consider our services to be "shit" so.. over seas.. they must be reallly shit. I must visit one day :D
Deffo Watford Gap that opened first, I worked for BlueBoar as they were at the time who had 3 services, Watford Gap, Rothersthorpe and Anandale Water or something similar sounding up in haggis land. They always used to harp on about how they were the first service station ever to open with lots of material in the staff areas, most of this went in 1998 when Roadchef took them over as the M1 sites were more service focused and less of a head office space with various storage of historical facts and items around them.
Aren't old sites like this perfect for redevelopment as EV recharge sites. Such as Gridserve's Electric Forecourts?
They're perfect!
Nothing highlights social decline more than the fact that Little Chefs and Happy Eaters are gone but we have Greggs...
hmm.. I like that, I agree :D
I've driven past that place hundreds and hundreds of times, either when driving north/south on the M1 or east/west on the A50, and it was *never* sign-posted properly. Mostly you'd only ever see the entrance to it if you were leaving the roundabout to head towards Coalville.
I drove past it over the Christmas/New Year period and never even realised it had closed.
It was always the poor relation to Leicester Forest East.
I was waiting for a video on this, went there recently with a mate and couldnt believe you missed it in your m1 video! Lol 😂
I have to say thanks for yet another beautifully crafted gem of a video. You never fail to make me smile, something that's for definite a good thing given the current climate!
Glad to hear!
It's a prime site to open as an electric forecourt. There is a lack of high-speed chargepoints close to the M1 north of Rugby.
Yea another wonderful place for those that bought an EV to sit an wait for a free charger then wait for an hour minimum to recharge and complete a journey while watching all your friends whizz by after taking 5 minutes to refuel down the road at a petrol station that can process 70 cars an hour. Wonderful step....back.
Hadn’t realised it had closed but am not surprised as Leicester Forest East - only a few minutes south - is a really good service station with a lot of food choices. Who doesn’t love having a Harry Ramsden’s while watching the cars zooming beneath you ! 😄
it could be reused as a motorhome night stopover
Granada went a bit experimental in the late 80s and built 6 of these scaled down MSAs for Trunk Roads - Leicester (A50), Blyth (A1) and Saltash (A38) all had the cross shape (a scaled down version of Tamworth) and Musselburgh (A1), Grantham Colsterworth (A1) and Warminster all got a sort of three linked building thing. They also.built 4 hotel cum services at Alfreton, Sheffield, Stoke on Trent and Chorley. I think they wanted to see if there was appetite for something bigger than a Little Chef on the A roads. I suppose at the time the A50 to Uttoxeter came here so it had that trade, people using the M1 might know about it from using other Granadas and picking up the free leaflets that listed the sites and, given there were murmurs thst LFE might have to close to accommodate road improvements, they probably thought it was a good site strategically that could be grown later. Sadly, not much was made of it. Like all the other Granada A-road sites bar Blyth (which is basically an MSA) its restaurant was changed to an AJ's table service then a Little Chef when Granada got their hands on them. I don't think they ever built it with signage from the motorway in mind or else they would have built it bigger from the off. It would probably not have met motorway standards for number of toilets etc and been too close to LFE to be allowed.
I remember stopping in 2008 and it all felt very forgotten. The Little Chef was still all kitted out in AJ's green, the shop had closed (but had Granada carpet poking out from under the shutters) and it felt a bit sad. I suppose Granada built Donington a few miles up the road too in the late 90s so that too, along with the A50 reroute, would have hurt Markfirld. Interesting though that it was one of the few TRSAs Moto kept (albeit they don't have it anymore) when so many were got rid of with the Little Chef estate. Did they still think it would still be valuable strategically?
Like other posters I would love to see Moto have a bit of fun with it and turn it back into a 90s style Granada - 90s is very trendy just now and I could see car clubs and film/ TV loving it - but I agree it would make a cracking EV charging/ hydrogen refuelling hub. Sad to see it so neglected as it was well built
AJ's Green... that might explain the green lighting along the top of the building. I was wondering about that. great info mate.
@@AutoShenanigans was it a load of dark green bulbs? If so, that would be right. Musselburgh retained them too, all the way up to its closure in 2010, and they were still there when it was demolished recently. I'm still gutted that Musselburgh closed and got demolished. It was a great location and I loved it. I think signage and lack of visibility from the road really hurt it :(
Loving these alternate deep dive Wednesday videos
I assume that you also work for an American company?
0:15 is from Watford Gap: The Musical...brilliant* ruclips.net/video/PqeXFISIAVw/видео.html
*YMMV
Very pleased to see this pop up today after mentioning it last year and receiving a "careful what you wish for reply"! I used to stay at the Travelodge regularly as it's close to Donington park circuit and it's very cheap. It was fine as long as you got food elsewhere before returning. The main services building wasn't boarded up for most of that time and as you say everything was still in place as if it had just closed for the day and would reopen soon! I think the last time I stayed was 2019 when it was starting to deteriorate but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it is now. There used to be a similar abandoned Euro garages services (without the hotel) on the A303 in Hampshire but about 5 years ago, it was demolished, rebuilt with new buildings and reopened. Also I just remembered, Markfield services used to be home to a Starling that used to be a perfect mimic of emergency vehicle sirens!! Very strange to hear but probably long since deceased. I don't think Starlings live long!
2-3 years - RIP
A303 Wayhill services, near Andover
How many times is he going to say Leicester? Leicester see…
I think it failed mainly because Markfield was never an official motorway services as it didn’t get any signage on the M1 and only had signs on the A50,
I guess it could have become a replacement for Leicester Forest East if they ever built the M69 link road (which would have needed the space to be built) but in reality I think they’d build one further south around Lutterworth as Markfield isn’t too far from Donnington
Gridserve have plans to purchase the site and redevelop it as a EV charging station.
Thats good, I hope they pull it off.
I grew up in the next village and remember when it was built; me and my mate used to play the arcade machines after school and in later years, my sister ended up as manager for the Burger King.
Map of St Albans on your wall.... is that your home town, perhaps? (Old map also, no M25...)
looks like a fun place to stick a mcdonalds
Please come to Rugby and see the new services at Junction 1. I think you’ll be impressed.
I've been and filmed a little thing on it in 2021 :D ruclips.net/video/ubc2BKzk5no/видео.html
@@AutoShenanigans It was the last one on you list. Well done for tackling such a huge challenge
Enjoying your videos thanks. I spend many hours using our motorway network as a Chauffeur covering 50k miles a year, the majority on motorways. So getting some enlightening info on our motorways is great to use to while away the time I'm stuck in traffic( M62, M60, M1, M6 et all). Speaking of service stations, maybe you should visit Birch services, E/B on the M62, and admire the way the have chopped down some beautiful trees there, that have been growing quietly and minding their own business for the last 50 years absorbing lots and lot of that nasty CO2, to make way for some (as yet still not finished after 12 months) EV charging stations, and see if you can spot the irony.......
is it hardly surprising these service stations are declining and closing ,when you consider the absolute piss-take ,extortionate prices being asked for food, drink ,etc, etc it really is legalised robbery when you consider you have to re-mortgage your house just to be able to afford a basic meal !!