BBC article noting the 50th anniversary of the M1 services between J21 & 22:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-35532494
An interesting reminder of how M/way services were when they started out, particularly the offer of a 'full service' restaurant. LFE apparently had 'The Captain's Table' on a nautical theme occupying the still current bridge over the road.
The accompanying picture shows the motorway before there was any sort of barrier in the central reservation. Looks like pale blue was the fashionable colour for cars at time. Car nearest to camera though is BMC 'land crab' in an off white shade - the grill and bonnet suggest the Wolseley variant.
Fascia board on the tower is, I think, Ross foods who ran the place when it first opened.
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"An interesting reminder of how M/way services were when they started out,"
Blimey - that takes me back to when I was in the lower 6th form and we'd drive down there from the A50 junction (as it was then); my girlfriend and two of her girl-friends in a borrowed Morris Oxford. We could barely scrape together enough money for a cup of coffee, but we thought it was the height of cool.
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...Forte's on the "Doncaster by-pass" for me (generally 7 or more up in a friends's series 1 Landrover).
Open all hours (Doncaster connection deliberate) for a late coffee.
So cool - how times have changed!
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Back around Christmas/New Year 1982 ish, my wife and I were driving back from a skiing holiday in Switzerland. I'd done all the driving and we were on the last leg to Edinburgh when we stopped at Leicester Forest in the dead of night. We were utterly skint and tired and didn't have a credit card so we were raking around inside the car for enough money to fund some coffee and to top up the petrol.
Sufficient but last remaining funds were found and we went into the cafe on the bridge to recharge ourselves.
On getting back down to the car park, to our horror, the car had evidently been stolen ! All our holiday gear, passports, house keys etc were in it. It was late, cold, starting to snow and we were still a long way from home and penniless.
Panic stricken, I spotted a police car in the car park, rushed over to it and explained our situation.
The policeman asked where we were heading and I explained that we were on our way home to Edinburgh.
That was when he pointed out that we had most probably parked in the northbound car park then...
Ah! Yes ! That would explain it then...
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Leicester Forest East is 50!! - Haywain
