Guide to Blisworth services

One of Margram's grand plans for the Blisworth Bypass, which now sits derelict.

Facilities

Forecourt: Total

Trivia and History

With the A43 Blisworth Bypass approved in 1985, plans were soon drew up for a new dual-sided service area at the northern end of the new bypass, close to the existing railway line.

Two proposals came from Margram in 1988, who proposed to build a full service area on either side of the new bypass. Each service area would include a café/restaurant, filling station and parking areas for all vehicles, with the southbound side also featuring a hotel. Planning permission was initially refused for both sides, but later granted in 1990 following an appeal.

The bypass officially opened on 21 May 1991. Two sets of service area slip roads were also built as part of the bypass works.

Margram renewed their plans for the dual-sided service area in 1993. A southbound filling station was eventually built and opened in late 1994 as a Fina site.

Demise and Closure

By summer 1996, no northbound side had materialised and no restaurant or hotel had been added to the southbound site despite planning consent still being available and despite an additional entrance being provided next to the southbound forecourt. OK Diner submitted plans to add one of their diners to the southbound site in July 1986. The landowner also proposed adding a 50-bed hotel in 1997, as well as a restaurant and lorry park, but none of these were ever added.

By August 1997, Northampton County Council were drawing up plans for a new public transport interchange at the nearby Blisworth railway station to improve access to and from Northampton. The proposals included a new park and ride being built at the existing Blisworth railway station and a new junction on the A43 being built to access the new site. The new junction would use land that the existing southbound service area sat on, demolishing the site to make way for the new slip roads.

Despite the threat of closure, the forecourt continued to trade on well into the new millennium, with the site becoming a Total filling station in 1999 following their merger with Fina. Land adjacent to the site was later being sold for a potential restaurant development in Summer 2003, but by early 2004 the site had closed and its slip roads blocked off.

The public transport interchange never materialised and the former southbound forecourt and car wash buildings still remain standing as of 2024, albeit in a dilapidated state. All four slip roads are still in place but access to the ghost forecourt has been blocked by rubble and cones.

Area Map

This is an automatically generated map of the surrounding area. You can use the button on the right to switch between a map and an aerial photo. Historic maps may be available at SABRE Maps.

🗺 Grid reference: SP722550 | See GeoHack for modern layers