Guide to Layby (Weston-on-the-Green) services

A very unusual setup with two separate facilities on the southbound side of the A34, overlooking the northbound side's Family Farm services.

Facilities

Catering: Starbucks Drive Thru Outdoor Space: No grass space Charging Points: Shell Recharge 150kW CCS & 50kW CHAdeMO Forecourt: Shell, Select, Deli by Shell, Costa Express

Parking Prices

Short stay customer parking is available for cars at all facilities. HGV parking is only available in the lay-by adjacent to the Shell filling station.

This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.

Contact Details

Trivia and History

While the service area on the northbound side is clearly called Family Farm, the southbound side doesn't have an official name. Shell tend to call it Layby (for reasons detailed below), while the coffee shop tends to call it Weston On The Green.

Originally this road was the single carriageway A43 between Oxford and Northampton. The two facilities on the southbound side were both built in around the late 1960s, each as a garage.

The southern garage was branded Esso and called 'Weston filling station'. At the same time, one of the early branches of Little ChefHistory opened next to the southernmost petrol station. This Little Chef was open 24 hours a day at one time.

The northernmost petrol station was built on an old piece of road which was left over from when the A43 was straightened in the 1940s. This has given it a lot of space, which is mostly used as an unofficial lay-by. As a result, it was known as Lay-by Garage, and some properties next to it (demolished in 1998), were known as 'Lay-by Cottages'.

The Layby Café joined Little Chef next to this petrol station. A report dated 1986 said the café was serving 200 HGVs a day, with 10% buying fuel. It was the only transport café on the route from Northampton to Southampton.

In the late 1980s, Little Chef closed and moved to the position of the old Layby Cafe, where it was more visible from the road and had more space. This used a brick-built building. A fake pitched roof was later added to it.

Dual Carriageway Era

The A43 became the A34, and was upgraded to become a dual carriageway, in time for the opening of the M40 in 1991. Access to the farm was now provided via the second petrol station. Between January 1991 and March 1994, the first petrol station was the first one available since Birmingham, a considerable boast.

The two petrol stations were connected to the new southbound carriageway of the A34. They were now branded Shell and Fina, respectively. The Fina was known for its cheap prices, and then became Elf. The Shell (Lay-by Garage) had looked quiet and run-down for as long as the two were competing. The Elf closed in around 1997.

Meanwhile, in 1996 there was a plan to turn all the Little Chef's signage blue. This was a project normally accompanied by a thorough refurbishment of the dining area, but it didn't go ahead. A Coffee Stop continued to trade here until the brand was phased out.

The old Elf forecourt became a caravan showroom. Aside from this, and the fact the southbound petrol station was somewhat isolated further up the road, the complex looked like a coherent service area, with Family Farm trading on the opposite side. A bespoke road sign was created to explain that this service area had two entrances, with the second one having no fuel and limited opening hours.

There would later be a plan from Weston Rescue to demolish Family Farm and build a large truckstop that would merge Lay-by Garage and the former Elf site. It included accommodation, a restaurant, a bar and a recreation room, but the proposal was rejected in 1996. A similar location was looked at a few miles to the north.

Changes

In 2011, Applegreen announced plans to take over the former petrol station, and re-open it as "Ray's Service Station". This plan was dropped.

In September 2012, the Little Chef was one of a number of branches which were deemed to be unprofitable, and closed. It then re-opened as the restaurant Eat & Go, which closed in late 2015.

After this, the restaurant was taken over by 23.5 Degrees and turned into a Starbucks, opening on 16 February 2016. Strictly speaking the separate Shell forecourt is now the main part of Family Farm services, as this is where the free toilets are advertised.

Four Shell Recharge electric vehicle charging points were installed on the southbound forecourt during 2021 but due to power supply issues they didn't go live until early 2023.

23.5 Degrees closed their Starbucks store in October 2023 so they could commence works to add a bolt-on drive-thru window and lane next to the existing building, which opened after delays on 28 March 2024. As part of the works, new electric vehicle chargers are expected to be added to the car park. Before these could be installed, 23.5 Degrees were acquired by Starbucks UK in October 2024 meaning the store is now company operated.

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