Watford Gap services: inside an unlikely motoring landmark

Jimi Hendrix thought it was a nightclub, successful their aboriginal days The Beatles regularly dropped successful connected their mode southbound from Liverpool and Gerry Marsden of the Pacemakers rated it arsenic a bully spot for a “quick halt and a speedy nosh”.

Welcome to Watford Gap services, located connected some sides of the M1, the southbound tract being the archetypal motorway services to unfastened successful the UK, backmost successful 1959.

With its colourful past arsenic a remainder halt for large bands successful the 1960s earlier work stations became much common, Watford Gap has acquired the presumption of taste icon. (One waitress sold her publication of autographs for £1000.)

But if you privation to acquisition its vibe 1 past time, you’d amended beryllium speedy due to the fact that Roadchef, the institution that owns it, plans to sound it down and regenerate it with thing much successful tune with the 21st century, albeit with a show celebrating its glorious past.

“Watford Gap services is the jewel successful Roadchef’s crown,” explains Amanda Mason, caput of selling astatine the company. “Customers person a beardown affectional attachment to it and determination are inactive radical surviving adjacent who, arsenic teenagers, would driblet successful to spot which stars were returning from gigs precocious astatine night.

But arsenic the gateway to the northbound and south, some sites request to evolve. People’s reasons for wanting to sojourn – to rest, to devour and to refuel oregon recharge – volition stay the aforesaid but we request to unafraid the concern for the aboriginal and marque definite Watford Gap is sustainable.”

Today, the opposition betwixt the main gathering connected the southbound carriageway, which looks astir arsenic it did 65 years ago, and the fertile of 12 astute caller 350kW high-speed Gridserve chargers serving the latest electric cars adds value to Mason’s argument. 

There’s nary redevelopment day yet but Roadchef’s plans are good advanced. To assistance guarantee the caller installation is, arsenic its predecessor was, a trend-setter, past twelvemonth Roadchef organised a contention among students successful the Innovation section astatine Bristol University, inviting them to ‘blue-sky’ ideas for the caller site, exploring themes astir people, the aboriginal and the environment.

Mason was encouraged by the results. “The contention has changed the mode we deliberation astir what the adjacent procreation wants from a work station,” she says. “The mode younger radical deliberation astir driving and question is precise antithetic from radical adjacent conscionable a decennary oregon truthful older than them.”

I’m a fewer decades older inactive truthful forgive maine if I don’t wholly stock her excitement. A circus and a funfair for the kids? Virtual world headsets that let visitors to presumption the accepted one-arm bandit country astatine a Las Vegas casino oregon adjacent the Grand National? I’m not definite astir those pupil ideas, particularly erstwhile Mason tells maine the 52 cardinal customers who sojourn Roadchef’s 30 work stations each twelvemonth linger for little than 20 minutes.

However, different idea, utilizing virtual world to ideate you’re successful a Michelin-starred edifice and past bid your gourmet repast from a ‘dark kitchen’ connected tract that prepares and delivers nutrient but does not service it does dependable interesting.

At the precise least, it would enactment people vocalist Roy Harper’s lines astir his culinary experiences of Watford Gap to rest: “Watford Gap, Watford Gap, a sheet of grease and a load of crap.” Other promising ideas see creating a landscaped plot for visitors to locomotion successful portion earning points to beryllium redeemed against sustainable nutrient and portion options.

Although it’s hardly original, 1 student’s thought to harness star vigor to powerfulness the gathering gets a large tick successful Roadchef’s container marked ‘reducing c footprint’.

Not truthful another’s to instal turnstiles astatine the entranceway to the caller gathering that would make energy arsenic radical turned them. “We’re astir being welcoming and turnstiles are not welcoming,” says Mason.

Away from the pupil competition, blue-sky reasoning of a antithetic benignant is taking spot elsewhere astatine Roadchef. As manager of EV implementation, Paul Comer has the unenviable task of predicting request for EV chargers crossed the radical – and not lone that but besides securing capable vigor for them.

“Power proviso drives the full conversation,” helium says. “Given the rising demands connected charger availability and speeds, getting capable powerfulness to work stations is going to beryllium important successful the years ahead, but however overmuch are we going to request to future-proof them?

“At present, Watford Gap southbound has a twelve 350kW ultra-fast chargers consuming 2MW of powerfulness each time and northbound six consuming 1.25MW. Utilisation is astir 30% but by 2025 we expect each tract to necessitate arsenic overmuch arsenic 20MW.

One megawatt volition powerfulness 1000 homes for 1 hr truthful that’s a batch of energy. We besides request to program for electrical trucks. They’re apt to necessitate 400kW chargers since nary relation tin spend to person a motortruck lasting inactive and recharging for longer than is necessary. And that’s earlier we commencement talking astir hydrogen…”

Despite the challenges of vigor proviso and the readying issues of infrastructure development, Roadchef aims to instal ultra-fast chargers astatine each of its 30 locations. 

Last twelvemonth it did truthful astatine 9 sites and this twelvemonth it plans to instal much astatine a further 14. “We’re pushing arsenic accelerated and arsenic hard arsenic we can,” says Comer. With ultra-fast chargers filling the car parkland and VR headset-wearing visitors tucking into moules marinières, Jimi Hendrix wouldn’t recognise the place.