The Blyth branch was a former Little Chef restaurant located on the southbound side of the A1 near Blyth, Nottinghamshire.
Address and Onsite Facilities[]
ADDRESS: A1 South, Blyth, Nottinghamshire, S81 8EL
ONSITE FACILITIES: Pearl Truck Stop
For more information, visit Motorway Services Online
History[]
The history of Blyth dates back to at least 1948, when maps showed that a house and a cafe existed on the site. The latter became the Little Chef, which opened around 1976 as part of Forte's nationwide expansion of the chain. It was believed that the restaurant was housed inside of the existing cafe building, which at some point had been extended.
Around 1990, a Forte Travelodge was constructed behind the restaurant, despite clear competition from a nearby Travelodge located two miles north at Blyth services, operated by rivals, Granada. It was believed that the Little Chef was also remodelled when the lodge was constructed.
However in 1997, when Granada acquired the Little Chef and Travelodge, they decided to close the lodge down, probably due to the close proximity to the hotel at Blyth services, which travellers would often reach first. By 1998, the hotel closed and was demolished, with the former space being used as storage for damaged vehicles.
The Little Chef closed in 2002 when then owners, Compass, closed a handful of sites which were deemed to be unprofitable, one of which was Blyth. It has since been operated by many independents including Katie's Kitchen, Joey's Truckstop, Frankie's Diner (which closed and became boarded up in 2008), Hannah's Kitchen and Flo's Cafe. In Summer 2021 the Diner was closed and the entry slip road was blocked, leaving the building abandoned once again for a while until a new company bought a site and will open again in summer 2022. As of late 2022 the site now operates as Pearl Truck Stop, of which the site is advertised as "A1 Services" according to the company.
Remains[]
As of 2023 there is still a lot of Little Chef DNA remaining at this site including the furniture, the bins in the car park (only one remaining now) and the remains of the totem sign. All trading lampposts were removed by 2012. The words 'Safe Journey' are still printed on the tarmac on the exit slip road from the site.
The word 'Welcome' printed on the tarmac on the entrance slip road was removed by 2015 and its accompanying directional arrow still remains to this day.