| Heston Services | |
|---|---|
 The eastbound services building. | |
  Heston Services Location within Greater London | |
| Information | |
| County | Greater London |
| Road | M4 |
| Coordinates: | 51°29′17″N0°23′28″W / 51.4881°N 0.3911°W |
| Operator | Moto Hospitality |
| Website | moto-way |
Heston services is a motorway service station on the M4 motorway in the London Borough of Hounslow, built on land that once formed part of the now defunct Heston Aerodrome.
It is owned by Moto. The 11-mile £19m Chiswick-Langley section of the M4 (London - South Wales Motorway) opened on Wednesday 24 March 1965, together with the Heathrow Airport spur.
Consulting engineers were Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners, and it was built by Costain, with 16 acres on each side. [1] The 11 miles of M4 from Chiswick to Langley were the first to be computer controlled from the police centre at Heston services, with digital motorway signs in March 1969, opened by Labour minister Richard Marsh, Baron Marsh. [2] GEC received the £120,000 contract in March 1968, with 57 illuminated signs. [3]
A contract was awarded in September 1966, with each side to have a 21,000 sq ft restaurant building. [4] There would be 46 pumps, on 12 islands, holding 210,000 gallons of petrol. [5] The Chiswick - Langley M4 section was the busiest in the country, and the first motorway section to be lit, with a £100,000 lighting contract in October 1966. [6]
During construction of this section, much vandalism took place near Harmondsworth and Harlington. The lighting of the site was provided by the street lighting division of British Lighting Industries. The 100 ft main lighting columns were supplied by British Steel Corporation's Northern and Tubes Group (Stewarts & Lloyds).
The westbound side was opened on 4 March 1967. It had 46 petrol pumps. It was opened by Granada Ltd, and was their third service area after Toddington (1964) and Frankley (1966). It had been planned to open in July 1966. When the westbound side opened, it was planned that the restaurant would open around September 1967. [7] The first restaurant on the westbound opened on Wednesday 22 November 1967, when nothing on the eastbound side was open. There was a self service restaurant for 220, a transport cafeteria for 120, and waitress service restaurant for 94. The eastbound side was planned to open soon after. [8]
The westbound section is accessed via Phoenix Way, and is adjacent to the site where most of the Heston Aerodrome buildings were located. [9]
The 2019 Motorway Services User Survey found that Heston's westbound side was in the top five motorway services in the UK for customer satisfaction. [10]
The eastbound side was opened on Wednesday 3 January 1968 by the then Miss United Kingdom, Jennifer Lynn Lewis and entertainer Joe Brown. The eastbound side was opened to public the next day. The site could seat 750 people, 400 cars, with 250 lorries and coaches. [11]
The whole project had cost £500,000.
Heston services is located between junctions 2 (Brentford Interchange, Lionel Road) and 3 (A312, Cranford Parkway Interchange) of the M4, near the suburbs of Heston and Cranford. It is one of only two motorway service stations within the M25; the other is London Gateway services (formerly Scratchwood services) on the M1, which opened in 1969.
Directly west of the westbound side is the British Airways sports ground; on the west of the sports ground was their Concorde Centre, now known as Heston Venue. The service station is in the TW5 postcode. Further west is Cranford Park.
Roger Moore is mentioned as passing Heston Services when supposedly on his way to appear in the first episode of Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge .
Heston services made a short but pivotal appearance in Edgar Wright's 2007 film Hot Fuzz .
Bryn from BBC’s Gavin & Stacey mentions, in the early episodes in the series, making a scheduled stop at either Leigh Delamere or Heston services on the family’s first trip from Barry Island to Billericay. In the 2019 Christmas Special, Nessa says, "Only a fool'd stop at Heston."
Hounslow is a large suburban district of West London, England, 10+3⁄4 miles west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 14 metropolitan centres in Greater London.
The London Borough of Hounslow is a London borough in west London, England, forming part of Outer London. It is governed by Hounslow London Borough Council.
Heston is a suburban area and part of the Hounslow district in the London Borough of Hounslow. The residential settlement covers a slightly smaller area than its predecessor farming village, 10.8 miles (17.4 km) west south-west of Charing Cross and adjoins the M4 motorway but has no junction with it; Heston also adjoins the Great West Road, a dual carriageway, mostly west of the "Golden Mile" headquarters section of it. Heston was, historically, in Middlesex.
The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely complete by 1980, though a non-motorway section around Briton Ferry bridge remained until 1993. On the opening of the Second Severn Crossing in 1996, the M4 was rerouted over it.
The M40 motorway links London, Oxford, and Birmingham in England, a distance of approximately 89 miles (143 km).
The A4 is a major road in England from Central London to Avonmouth via Heathrow Airport, Reading, Bath and Bristol. It is historically known as the Bath Road with newer sections including the Great West Road and Portway. The road was once the main route from London to Bath, Bristol and the west of England and formed, after the A40, the second main western artery from London.
The M1 is a motorway in Northern Ireland. It is the longest motorway in Northern Ireland and runs for 38 miles (61 km) from Belfast to Dungannon through County Antrim, County Down, County Armagh and County Tyrone. It forms part of the route via the A1 in Northern Ireland between Belfast and Dublin as well as being a part of the unsigned European E01 and E18 routes.
Keele services is a motorway service station, between junctions 15 and 16 of the M6 motorway near Keele in England. Operated by Welcome Break, it was built in 1963 and was designed by Terence Verity of Verity Associates.
Knutsford services is a motorway service station on the M6 in Cheshire, England.
Cranford is a suburban area straddling the London Boroughs of Hillingdon and Hounslow. It is located 12.5 miles (20 km) west of Charing Cross and immediately east of Heathrow Airport, from which it is separated by the River Crane. A village till the mid-20th century, Cranford was developed with the building of major roads in its area.
Newport Pagnell Services is a motorway service station between junctions 14 and 15 of the M1 motorway near Newport Pagnell in the City of Milton Keynes, north Buckinghamshire, England. It is owned and operated by Welcome Break.
Membury services is a motorway service station on the M4 motorway, located on the original site of RAF Membury in the civil parish of Lambourn in the English county of Berkshire, close to the boundary with Wiltshire, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Junction 14. It is owned by Welcome Break and is situated adjacent to the Membury Radio Mast.
The M4 motorway Usk bridge carries the M4 motorway across the River Usk in the city of Newport, Wales.
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Trowell services is a motorway service station off the M1 motorway in Trowell, Nottinghamshire, England, situated north of Junction 25. Opened in 1967 by Mecca Leisure, it is currently owned by Moto. The services are situated near Nottingham.
Leigh Delamere services is a motorway service area on the M4 motorway in England, one mile west of Junction 17, between Bristol and Swindon. It takes its name from the adjoining village of Leigh Delamere. It is one of Europe's largest service stations. The service area is owned by Moto Hospitality.
Hartshead Moor services is a motorway service station on the M62 near Brighouse, West Yorkshire. It is the highest service station in the United Kingdom.
Rivington services is a motorway service area in Anderton, Lancashire, England. The service station is situated between Junctions 6 and 8 of the M61.
Birch Services is a motorway service station located on the M62 motorway between Junction 18 (M60) and Junction 19 Heywood, close to Rochdale and Bury. There are two sides to the service station, the Eastbound services being quite old and the Westbound services being more modern. The services opened in 1972.
Sydney Green & Sons was a civil engineering contractor from Oxfordshire in England, which built sections of British motorways, notably the M2 in Kent, M5 and the M40, mostly in the Home Counties.
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