All Pitstop articles – Page 7
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NewsIn the surgery this month – Swan Garage, Buckingham
GENERAL APPEARANCE: This site was easily located in the middle of the market town of Buckingham by the familiar Gulf logo. FORECOURT: The forecourt is small with two basic pump islands under a canopy. I needed to refuel and was surprised to discover it was attended service. The ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month – Williams Garage, Otterbourne, Hants
GENERAL APPEARANCE: Otterbourne is a village just north of Eastleigh and south of Winchester. In the centre of the village is a thriving enterprise that offers services from a forecourt with shop and post office, through to MOT testing, vehicle hire and even scuba diving! The MOT and service bays, ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month – Applegreen Filling Station, Cottingham Road, Corby, Northamptonshire
GENERAL APPEARANCE: On Cottingham Road at what must be the geographic centre of Corby, is a recently-opened Applegreen site owned by Irish independent Petrogas. Petrogas has more than 50 filling stations in Ireland and has announced that it is looking to open 100 sites across the UK. FORECOURT: ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month - Square & Compass Garage, Mathry, Pembrokeshire
GENERAL APPEARANCE: The village of Square and Compass, Pembrokeshire, is situated about midway between St David’s and Fishguard on the busy A487. My stealthcheck target is the Square & Compass garage, which is clearly visible via its bright new Total pole. FORECOURT: The Total-branded pole advertises ’Calor’, ’Cash ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month – Texaco, Hornsey Rd, Islington, London
GENERAL APPEARANCE: The Millwood Motor Company site is situated at the edge of the large village of Cam in Gloucestershire. In addition to the impressive new Shell forecourt and Spar shop, the site offers a Mitsubishi dealership and what is claimed to be ’the only official UK sales outlet for ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month - Texaco, Hornsey Rd, Islington, London
GENERAL APPEARANCE: On the busy Hornsey Road, just a stone’s throw away from Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, is my stealth check target - a Texaco filling station and shop. The Texaco-branded pole is fairly visible and boldly announces that the site offers a car wash, off licence and the National Lottery. ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month - Plantation Filling Station, Kendal, Cumbria
GENERAL APPEARANCE: The store is housed in a ’farm shop’ style wooden cabin and the filling station shares the site with an outdoor clothing/camping shop that boldly promotes discount prices and seems to attract a steady stream of visitors. FORECOURT: The forecourt site is extensive ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month - Gillhams Service Station, Midhurst, West Sussex
GENERAL APPEARANCE: Gillhams Service Station, a BP forecourt and Nisa Local Essentials convenience store, opened last November. The enterprise is on a grand scale and all the equipment and buildings are new but in keeping with the old market town environment. FORECOURT: The forecourt is large and a ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month - AW & D Hammond, Halesworth, Suffolk
GENERAL APPEARANCE: On the A144 to Norwich is one of the Hammond Group’s forecourts. The large Jet Aim Hi prize-winning site has a Ford dealership, plus used cars and servicing/repairs facilities. FORECOURT: There are four islands of pumps, each topped with two non-food offers. Access to the pumps ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month - BP Connect/M&S Simply Food, Popham, Hants
GENERAL APPEARANCE: The BP Connect/Marks & Spencer Simply Food forecourt and shop at Popham on the A303 west shares the site with a Little Chef that was recently the focus of attention of Heston Blumenthal. FORECOURT: The large site is well signed with both a Little Chef and ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month
GENERAL APPEARANCE: Just two miles north of Chichester on the A286 is an isolated small complex of organisations that includes the Summersdale Garage and its Spar Shop. The site also includes the St Wilfrid’s Hospice shop and an autocare centre.FORECOURT: The forecourt is well signed by an Esso pole clearly ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month - U&I Fuels Service Station & Shop, Stadhampton, Oxford
GENERAL APPEARANCE: U&I Fuels Service Station & Shop is located at the entrance to the village of Stadhampton. The site displays a sign ’last fuel before M40’ and ’Under New Management’.FORECOURT: The site has a BP pole but my attention was first drawn to the very much past-its-best Mace signage ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month - Texaco/Star Market Service Station, Chepstow, Gwent
GENERAL APPEARANCE: Located just off the A48/A466 Larkfield roundabout on one of the main roads to Chepstow town centre is the joint-branded Texaco/Star Market service station. It includes an impressive Countrywide store that has recently undergone a refit.FORECOURT: The service station has a Texaco pole that shows illuminated fuel prices. ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month
GENERAL APPEARANCE: On the A360 Devizes to Salisbury road is the small village of Tilshead. At the edge of the village is Tilshead Garage, which has a Murco forecourt, a bright Mace shop and is developing a car park to the side of the site.FORECOURT: The site is identified by ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month - Frilford Service Station, Abingdon, Oxfordshire
GENERAL APPEARANCE: The junction of the A338 (Oxford/Wantage road) and the A415 (Witney/Abingdon road) is off set and somewhat awkward, but constantly busy and an ideal location for a service station. And indeed right on the junction at Frilford is a large Shell service station with Budgens shop.FORECOURT: The forecourt ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month - Roman Camp Service Station, Aylmerton, Norfolk
GENERAL APPEARANCE: On the A148 between Cromer and Kings Lynn is the small village of Aylmerton. Just outside the village is a Murco service station that includes a Your Store shop. Situated on a sweeping, wooded bend in the road, the site is clearly visible.FORECOURT: The Murco pole is bold ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month - Bride Valley Motors, Winterborne Abbas, Dorset
GENERAL APPEARANCE: On the A35 about five miles west from Dorchester and on the road to Bridport is Winterborne Abbas. On the right at the entrance to the village I found my target, Bride Valley Motors. It’s an impressive site which includes a BP forecourt, KeyStore shop, car sales, service ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month - Oakdene Service Station, Ulnes Walton, Leyland, Lancs
Oakdene Service Station is situated at Ulnes Walton, Leyland (between Chorley and Preston). It pumps Texaco fuel and has a Londis shop but what sets it apart is its prize-winning off licence.FORECOURT: The well-signed forecourt is almost totally covered by a large Texaco-branded canopy that also has, on one side, ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month - Roadchef Services, Norton Canes M6 Toll
The RoadChef services on the M6 Toll at Norton Canes includes a BP-branded forecourt and shop. The service station was the Forecourt Trader ’best motorway site’ winner in 2007. FORECOURT: A large pole clearly identifies the service station. The site is huge, with an extensive BP-branded canopy covering eight pump ...
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NewsIn the surgery this month - Symonds forecourts Bedminster, Bristol and Bruton, Somerset
Jeremy Symonds, former boss of the Smile c-store group, which was sold last year to Martin McColl, is back. He has started a business - Symonds Forecourts - and has six sites all with c-stores, three trading as Simply Fresh and three as Country Market.FORECOURTS: Bedminster, Bristol (near Temple Meads ...