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Content:
Newport Pagnell
From Motorway Services Online
| Newport Pagnell | |
| Welcome Break | |
 View pictures (10) | |
| Road: | M1 between J14 and J15 |
| Address: | Granada Services Newport Pagnell Motorway Services Area M1 Newport Pagnell Buckinghamshire MK16 8DS |
| Telephone number: | 01908 217722 |
| Signposted from the road? | Yes |
| Opened: | 1960 |
| Previous operators: | Trusthouse Forte |
| Grid reference: | SP858435 |
| Services type: | Two sites located between junctions, connected by an internal bridge. |
| Visit Newport Pagnell/Welcome Break's official website Facebook Page | |
One of the oldest services around, Newport Pagnell has done a lot with the little space it has. There isn't a lot of space, especially for southbound lorries, but the hotel has a very 1950s look to it and has received thumbs up for this.
Contents |
Facilities
General: BT Openzone, Gamezone, Traffic Information, Showers
Restaurants: Burger King, Coffee Primo, Eat In, KFC
Shops: WH Smith, Fonebitz
Fuel: Shell (pump types unknown)
Motel: Days Inn
Parking Prices
First two hours free for all vehicles, after which cars must pay £8 and caravans, coaches and HGVs £20. These prices include a £2/£7 food voucher respectively.
Prices can be paid from the pay & display booths in each car park, or from the shop within the services.
Trivia
Newport Pagnell is often claimed to be the first motorway service area. The truth is that Watford Gap opened almost a whole year before it, but its design wasn't very conventional.
The original plan was that Watford Gap would serve lorries whilst Newport Pagnell served cars, but it didn't work on several grounds: Blue Boar didn't want to build a second site and any other operator wouldn't want to send half their traffic to someone else, plus if a car driver desperately needed service area facilities but was outside a lorries-only service area it would be a bit silly not to let them in.
When Fortes did open the services in 1960, they were under strict instructions to make the building dull and to separate it from the main carriageway with a lot of trees. When the Government came to make their final inspection, they found that both rules had been broken and the site was seen as a "possible distraction" to drivers. Despite this, the services opened as normal on the 15th August 1960 and clearly haven't been seen as that much of a distraction by drivers.
The services are crammed into the local area, however the northbound site has sprawled into the field next to it. Sadly, the same isn't true for the southbound services and they have a huge shortage of space. Recent development means that the northbound site won't be able to expand any further either.
It had one of the last remaining Welcome Lodges, becoming Days Inn in April 2009. This was also the test site for WH Smith. When the services opened they formed the headquarters of certain segments of the Forte business, and today Welcome Break's HQ is only a few miles away in the nearby village.
The services received a lot of media attention in September 2007 when a coach took the southbound entrance at 50mph, mistaking it for a junction. It clipped the curb and came to a rest again the building. 30 out of the 33 passengers were hurt, 6 seriously, and the driver was later charged for drink driving and dangerous driving. There's more information and pictures on the BBC website.
In The Smiths' song 'Is It Really So Strange?', one of the lines is "I lost my bag at Newport Pagnell", referring to the services. They have also featured in a few scenes of the BBC's 'EastEnders'.
Survey Results
In 2008 the services won a five star loo award.
In 2007, Newport Pagnell northbound won a five star loo award. The southbound side won a four star one.
In 2006, both sides of Newport Pagnell won a four star loo award.
Also in 2006, Holiday Which? rated the services at 2/5.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| Toddington (15 miles) | Services on the M1 | Northampton (13 miles) |
| London Gateway (39 miles) South Mimms (M25 east, 33 miles) | Welcome Break services |
Leicester Forest East (45 miles) Corley (47 miles) |
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