The Markham Moor branch consists of two Little Chef restaurants located at the busy Markham Moor junction near Retford, Nottinghamshire. Where the northbound Little Chef is successful and still operating today, the famous, iconic southbound Little Chef sadly remains abandoned.
The site was built in the 1950s by Lincolnshire architect, Sam Scorer who started life at Markham Moor as a petrol station. At this time, there was no building underneath the parabolic roof and was instead filling pumps which was part of the old petrol station.
In the 1970s, the petrol station was taken over by Happy Eater and a new building was built to house the restaurant. The Happy Eater lasted until between 1995 and 1996 when Little Chef took over the famous building.
The Little Chef first opened between 1995 and 1996 in the Markham Moor building and a new northbound Little Chef was built. In the mid 2000s, the iconic Little Chef was facing threats as there were plans to replace the old Markham Moor roundabout with a grade separated junction. The building was luckily saved and remained open when the new junction opened. Sadly, the building didn't last for much longer.
In 2012, Little Chef's journey came to an end at Markham Moor South. The northbound Little Chef remains open and has recieved the "Wonderfully British" refurbishment.