A51 Tarvin Road between Chester and Nantwich
Signposted from the road.
CH3 7HN
map and directions
Single site located at the side of the road.
Gowy offers a petrol station at the side of the A51, forming the only signed service area between Chester and Stoke-on-Trent.
Facilities
Outdoor Space: Grass verge; public footpath connection Forecourt: Esso, ASDA Express, Subway, Starbucks on the Go, Tango Ice Blast, Jet Wash, Free Cash Machine
Parking Prices
Short stay customer parking is available for cars. No HGV parking is available.
This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.
Contact Details
🏢 Address:
Service Station
Tarvin Road
Christleton
Chester
CH3 7HN
Trivia and History
The Gowy garage, workshops and café here dates back to at least the 1930s, positioned on the alignment of Watling Street. The garage gained BP branding in the 1950s.
By the mid 1970s, the café had closed and the building had become a residential property known as Stamford House. In 1983, the owners of Happy Eater submitted plans to significantly extend the existing building to house one of their restaurants, but planning permission was refused.
The forecourt was operated by BP directly who in 1990 submitted plans to redevelop the site to add a retail shop, restaurant, business centre and overnight accommodation to the site in a building which would sit alongside the River Gowy however planning for this was refused. By this time, the workshops had closed and become home to an embroidery company known as 'Darts'.
By the late 1990s, the forecourt had been acquired by Octo Petroleum Ltd, who in 1997 redeveloped the site demolishing the existing pumps and buildings and altering the site layout to the layout we see here today with a larger sales building to the east of the site. A jet wash was also added. The sales building gained another extension in 2003 which saw the addition of a bakery. The shop was also branded 'BP Express Shopping' at this point.
EG Era
The filling station was then acquired by Euro Garages in the mid-2000s who added a SPAR store and replaced the bakery with a Subway store. Euro Garages later replaced the sales building entirely in 2012, allowing more shop space and relocating the Subway inside.
EG Group rebranded the site to Esso in 2019, after over 50 years of it being a BP site. The SPAR store rebranded to ASDA On the Move in March 2023. They also intend to add a Greggs concession at the back of the Asda store. The filling station later transfered to the Asda estate, relaunching on 20 February 2024 with a new Asda Express store.
Less than half a mile to the west of here on the opposite side of the road was the Littleton branch of Little ChefHistory which traded from the 1970s to 2004, before it closed. The branch reopened in 2006, before closing again in 2010. It was demolished in 2015.
Alternatives
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| Gateway (A55 westbound, 14 miles) Northop Hall (A55 eastbound, 14 miles) Rhostyllen (A483 south, 17 miles) Whitchurch (A41 south, 19 miles) Chester (M56 east, 9 miles) | Services on the A51 | Keele (M6 south, 31 miles) |