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There’s no doubting that the biggest news on Britain’s road network for many years broke on 2nd November 2009, when not only the M1 motorway turned 50, but the country’s first and most iconic Motorway Service Area at Watford Gap, also celebrated its 50th birthday in style.
Cast you mind back half a century: 1959 was certainly a memorable year – it was the year ‘that the music died’ with Buddy Holly being killed in a plane crash, the Austen Seven (Mini) first took to British roads costing just £500, the legendary Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club opened its doors for the first time and Barbie was born. But best of all came on 2nd November as not only did Cliff Richard top the charts with his new group The Shadows for the very first time, Watford Gap Services, then called The Blue Boar, opened its doors to offer travellers on the new M1 motorway a unique experience in which to relax and unwind.
The connection with music became key to its early success and in the following years it developed quite a reputation amongst rock’n’rollers from back in the day – it was even rumoured that it was talked about so much that Jimi Hendrix actually thought it was a trendy club to play in London. The Blue Boar achieved legendary status on the British music scene as the place for musicians and roadies to meet whilst on the road. Bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Hollies, Gerry and The Pacemakers and The Searchers, were all regularly spotted in the early hours of the morning having a cup of tea, or a big breakfast, before going home.
And Watford Gap still retains that buzz today, welcoming nearly 100,000 travellers through its doors in search of sustenance every week and serving 1,200 hot beverages every day. And the celebrity factor is still alive and well, with recent sightings of the likes of David and Victoria Beckham, Orlando Bloom, Girls Aloud, Russell Brand and Matt Lucas to name but a few.
So it’s hard to believe that Watford Gap recently celebrated its 50th birthday and who would have thought that after half a century it would become such a cultural and linguistic icon. From humble beginnings it has evolved into becoming one of the UK’s best-known British geographical reference points with Watford Gap now representing the ‘invisible meridian line’ that separates the north from the south of England. Indeed a newly erected signpost at the service area and an application to the Oxford English Dictionary, to have Watford Gap official recognised as the north south divide of the country, are both testament to the fact.
And famously, as part of its 50th birthday celebrations, the BBC commissioned ‘Watford Gap the Musical’, a tongue in cheek look at the history of the service area, which was featured on all of the main BBC News programmes, exactly 50 years to the day after the site opened.
So to see the musical and find out more about all the events which took place at Watford Gap’s 50th birthday party, please click on the appropriate link opposite.
