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Our history section attempts to look at why things are the way that they are today. It is broken into several sections, taking you back to the early days of service station planning, and looking at some of the changes that have happened since.

True pedants will point out that everything on this website talks about history! If what you need doesn't fall under any of the headings below, it may fit better under [[Brands]], [[Operators]] or [[How Things Work]]. Items relating to one specific service area tend to be listed on that individual service area's [[Services Search|database page]].

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===[[File:Toddington Kenning Motor Group rejected option filling station.jpg|100px|left|class=nophone|link=Original Five]][[Original Five|The Original Five]]===
The very invention of the motorway service area spawned from a range of possibilities, and some truly botched decision-making.<br style="clear:both">

===[[File:Washington footbridge old photo.jpg|100px|left|class=nophone|link=Category:History Pages]][[:Category:History Pages|Under the Microscope]]===
We take a number of the country's oldest service areas and look at how they were built, and what has happened since.<br style="clear:both">

===[[File:Sprotbrough southbound site.jpg|100px|left|class=nophone|link=Unbuilt Services]][[Unbuilt Services]]===
Motorway service areas used to be central to the motorway planning system, but not all the planned ones materialised. There are plenty of examples of service areas that were never built or even half-built!<br style="clear:both">

===[[File:0B59202D-5222-49DC-A433-8130D3F013C3.jpeg|100px|left|class=nophone|link=Closed Services]][[Closed Services]]===
It's rare that a full service area will totally pack up and close, leaving no trace. When they do, we can't resist taking a look at it!<br style="clear:both">

===[[File:Dunton 1983 plan sketch.jpg|100px|left|class=nophone|link=History:Motorway service area]][[History:Motorway service area|How To Design A Service Station]]===
A look through every decade of service station history, and how design has varied according to fashion trends and what they think people wanted.<br style="clear:both">

===[[File:Hilton Park artists impression.jpg|100px|left|class=nophone|link=Unusual Buildings]][[Unusual Buildings|Architecturally Interesting Services]]===
It may be a bit too on-brand for us to argue that every service area is interesting, so instead we have picked five whose architecture really stands out.<br style="clear:both">

===[[File:Derby WB under construction 2.jpg|100px|left|class=nophone|link=Major Changes]][[Major Changes|Services Which Have Changed Direction]]===
Some service areas look nothing like how they were first envisaged. This page takes a look at some particularly severe examples.

[[Category:Contents]][[Category:UK only]]

Return to History.