Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Ellis]

In September 1992 I set a pub quiz and the tiebreak question was "how many petrol stations are there in mainland Britain?

The answer then was 17679.

I wonder what the answer is now - half that number?

Driving through towns most of you will have noticed that the former petrol stations are now used car lots or valeting centres.
In my own village in the 1970s there were no less than five places you could buy fuel. Older residents have told me at one time there were six. Now there is only one Shell owned and operated site.

Not one village in the Conwy Valley has a petrol station now and even I remember at least one in every village.

It looks as if nearly every fuel station is either supermarket, oil company or corporate owned now.

Ominous or a guarantee of safety and efficiency?
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[Rootes75]

There are a few small village stations near us but the prices are at least 10p more per litre than the town stations. Like you say, the majority are now Supermarket petrol stations.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[Vintage Crank]

The demise of a lot of the smaller petrol stations was due, in part I suspect, to the cost of meeting increasingly onerous regulations.

A local village station told me that they had finally stopped dispensing fuel and concentrated on repairs/MOTs instead some years ago due to the cost of having to install forecourt spillage drains. It was the final straw on top of many other mandated upgrades over the years. Quite a shame really as they had a set of wonderful old pumps, still retaining their illuminated globes and overhead delivery hose gantries. Probably sold them for a fortune.

And in the nearest small town, another very old one-man operation (the business and the owner!) had to close when the high street was pedestrianised. Bit difficult to sell fuel when cars can't reach you!

And of course, the value of the prime building land that so many older fuel stations sit on must be a big factor these days in their closures.
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Dave (Professional Procrastinator)

1927 Morris Oxford Saloon 14/28
1949 Ferguson TED20 tractor and other 1950s
1958 Series 2 Land Rover 88" and various 2a's
1969 Jaguar 420G

[roverdriver]

It is not just a phenomenon in your part of the world. Here in Australia it used to be that the smallest settlement with just a general store that would provide all services for the small local population including Post Office, would invariably have a petrol pump out the front. Now, even small towns that used to have a garage and petrol station are often short of such facilities.

With the often long distances in parts of our land, one has to enquire to make sure that fuel will be available further up the road. It is not too difficult on major roads, but minor and back roads can prove difficult.
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[MikeEdwards]

[peppiB]

Currently travelling north from Newcastle upon Tyne on the A696, there is petrol available at the airport and the next affordable place is in Jedburgh,Scotland, 56 miles away ...... apart from a small rural station near Keilder which charges 25p per litre more than the going rate

[Peter_L]

It is the same here where we live. Population is sparse, probably no more than a few thousand in 10 mile radius. In the 60's there were 5 petrol stations in the village, now there is only one and another on a road about 2 miles away. There are more people in the area than there were in the 60's, (new builds)

I don't know why, but it is an interesting topic. Even back in Barnsley, Yorkshire, there were many more petrol stations than now. Were people more brand loyal. ? A family member ran an AGIP station for a while but the brand never took hold in the UK.

[ukdave2002]

[Dipster]

There was never enough money to be made in retailing fuel to sustain a fuel station on its own. In my youth the garage came with the fuel station. It was tied to a refiner. The rent was inexpensive but you accepted what was often an onerous contract for fuel sales (plus oils and other company brand "tat" such as screen wash) to get the workshops, where money could be made.

We often gave the "tat" to regular customers to get shot of it as more was always on its way! The oils were sold through the workshop. So the workshop subsidised the fuel sales (and thus a multi national oil company!) but, overall, a reasonable income was possible.

I imagine the fact that cars of any makes, such as we used to be happy to accept, are not so easily maintained or repaired. Thus the small garage cannot, perhaps, survive so easily. Consequently the fuel station goes too.

[JohnDale]

Back in the dark(happy)days my Uncles working garage on the A49 in Cuddington(spoken of in previous posts) also sold petrol. They were (by contract) open from 06.00 to midnight for petrol sales with a very small return per gallon. Then the M6 was opened. Overnight they lost almost all of their passing trade. The result was they sold up & retired so the local area lost a repair centre & a filling station. I think(old memory) the nearest fuel after that was in Northwich, or, of course, in the motorway services at a higher price. Cheers,JD.
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1958 Ford Zephyr Mk2 Convertible
1976 Ford Granada Ghia.