Newport Pagnell Services is a

motorway service station Motorway service areas in the United Kingdom and Ireland, also known as services or service stations, are rest areas where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel/recharge, rest, eat and drink, shop or stay in an on-site overnight hotel. The vas ...

between junctions 14 and 15 of the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which ...

near Newport Pagnell in the

City of Milton Keynes The City of Milton Keynes is a unitary authority area with both borough and city status, in Buckinghamshire. It is the northernmost district of the South East England Region. The borough abuts Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and the remainder ...

, north Buckinghamshire, England. It is owned and operated by

Welcome Break Welcome Break is a British motorway service station operator that operates 35 motorway service stations in the UK. It is the second-largest motorway service area operator behind Moto. It also operates hotels and motels. It is a subsidiary of ...

History

Newport Pagnell Services was one of the first service stations to be opened in the UK, opening the same day as

Watford Gap services Watford Gap services are motorway services on the M1 motorway in Northamptonshire, England. They opened on 2 November 1959, the same day as the M1, making them one of the oldest motorway services in Britain. The facilities were originally mana ...

on 2 November 1959. Newport Pagnell was the first to fully open for all traffic, opening on 15th August 1960, a month before Watford Gap. Like the motorway, the site was designed by Sir Owen Williams. The services were opened by

Forte Forte or Forté may refer to: Music *Forte (music), a musical dynamic meaning "loudly" or "strong" * Forte number, an ordering given to every pitch class set * Forte (notation program), a suite of musical score notation programs * Forte (vocal ...

, and were taken over by Welcome Break in 1988. The service station is one of fourteen for which large murals were commissioned from artist David Fisher in the 1990s, designed to reflect the local area and history.

In the news

On 3 September 2007, a

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

coach from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

to Luton Airport and

Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acro ...

(making an unscheduled stop) failed to make a turn on the approach road and overturned. A number of people including the driver were seriously injured. The driver was subsequently convicted of drink driving and dangerous driving.BBC News
M1 coach crash driver is jailed
Newport Pagnell Services, M1 southbound - geograph

Newport Pagnell Services, M1 southbound - geograph

References

External links

Motorway Services Online - Newport PagnellMotorway Services Trivia Website - Newport Pagnell
{{Transport in Buckinghamshire 1959 establishments in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Milton Keynes M1 motorway service stations Transport infrastructure completed in 1959 Welcome Break motorway service stations