Severn View services

Severn View Services
The main building
Severn View services (Gloucestershire)
Information
County:	Gloucestershire
Road:	M48
Coordinates:	51°36′12″N 2°37′11″W / 51.603241°N 2.619668°WCoordinates: 51°36′12″N 2°37′11″W / 51.603241°N 2.619668°W
Operator:	Moto Hospitality
Previous name(s):	Aust
Date opened:	1966[1]
Website:	Moto

Severn View services is a motorway service station on the M48 motorway near the village of Aust, northwest of Bristol. It is owned by Moto. It was formerly called Aust Services.

History

Old building

The service was constructed by Higgs and Hill Ltd as part of the M4 motorway contract between Aust and Almondsbury.^[2] The original services building was built near the edge of the cliff, allowing visitors to see the bridge and the Severn Estuary. A 1978 Government report stated that this service station had the largest public cafeteria in the United Kingdom.^[3]

When the road was diverted over the Second Severn Crossing it was expected that these services would close. The original building which offered views of the River Severn was closed and sold^[4] and operations moved to an adjacent site.

New building

It has been owned by Moto Hospitality since the company was founded in 2001, making it one of the first Motorway Services to be operated by Moto. Burger King is the only surviving brand that has been operating there since 2001.

Despite Moto's take over, the mini amusement arcade in the services, Gscape, remained there from the days when Granada owned the service station despite being Granada branded, as Granada created the 'Gscape' arcades to appear exclusively within their services, with the "G" in the logo being the same G that Granada had in their logo. The 'Gscape' branding was removed in the 2010s.

A sign located beside the A403 road some distance before approaching the roundabout that serves the service station has generated some interest. The sign, depicting a pictograph symbol of a bed, is supposed to identify that the service station has a hotel, although the sign appears some distance outside the service station and gives no direction on how to get there.^[5] It was erected when Granada bought the service station, and the same sign is normally seen within other service stations once owned by Granda within the service station's entrance.

Incidents

The services have been linked to several suicides, as drivers can abandon cars in the parking lot and walk out to the bridge of cliff face with minimal supervision.^[6][7] The Manic Street Preachers' Richey Edwards' car was reported as abandoned in the service station car park on 17 February 1995. He had been missing since checking out of a hotel in Bayswater, London on 1 February. His whereabouts remain unknown.^[8][9]

References

1. Motorway Services Trivia - Chronology - Accessed 21 January 2009
2. "M4 : Aust (J21) to Almondsbury (J20)". The Motorway Archive. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
3. Parker, Mike (2013). Mapping the Roads. AA Publishing. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-7495-7435-2.
4. "Aust / Severn View Services". Motorway Service Area Triva site. Retrieved 2014-02-27.
5. http://motorwayservicesonline.co.uk/Gallery:Severn_View
6. "Severn Bridge body remains mystery". BBC News. 15 July 2001. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
7. "Missing man's car found at bridge". BBC News. 8 August 2005. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
8. "Richey Edwards case closed: how 14 years of hope ended". The Guardian. 29 November 2008. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
9. "What happened to Richey Edwards? 20 years after Bristol sightings Manic Street Preacher's disappearance remains mystery". Bristol Post. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2016.

External links

• Motorway Services Online - Severn View
• Motorway Services Trivia Site - Severn View
• Moto Services Official Site - Severn View