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Watford, Northamptonshire

Civil parishes in NorthamptonshireUse British English from March 2014Villages in NorthamptonshireWest Northamptonshire District
Gate of St Peter and St Paul, Watford
Gate of St Peter and St Paul, Watford

Watford is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 224 people, including Murcott and increasing to 320 at the 2011 Census. Watford is home to Watford Gap services, the UK's oldest motorway service station, located directly on the M1 motorway and alongside the West Coast Main Line.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Watford, Northamptonshire (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Watford, Northamptonshire
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Wikipedia: Watford, NorthamptonshireContinue reading on Wikipedia

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N 52.315 ° E -1.117 °
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NN6 7UP , Watford
England, United Kingdom
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Gate of St Peter and St Paul, Watford
Gate of St Peter and St Paul, Watford
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Watford Gap services
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 managed by Blue Boar, a local company that had run a nearby petrol station before the M1 opened. Roadchef bought the services from Blue Boar in 1995. The main building was designed by Harry Weedon, the architect for Odeon Cinemas, while the layout and general buildings were designed by coordinating architect Owen Williams. The main building was not ready on opening, so food was served from temporary sheds. The restaurant opened in September 1960, but due to the site's reputation as a truck stop, was redesigned in 1964 to accommodate a waitress service. The services became a meeting place for rock bands in the 1960s, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix, as it provided a convenient place to sit down and eat a meal in the early hours of the morning. In the 1970s, the quality of the services declined and the food came in for harsh criticism from journalists and artists, such as Roy Harper. Since purchase in 1995, Roadchef have refurbished the premises. They have promoted its history, including the association with a north / south divide, and its regular use by 1960s rock musicians. A number of events took place to celebrate the 50th anniversary in November 2009, including a musical about the services. The services are named after the nearby Watford Gap, a crossing point of the limestone ridge just north of the village of Watford; the name is unrelated to that of the town of Watford in Hertfordshire.

Watford Locks
Watford Locks

Watford Locks (grid reference SP592688) is a group of seven locks on the Leicester Line of the Grand Union Canal, in Northamptonshire, England, famous for the Watford Gap service area. The locks are formed (looking from the south), of two single locks, a staircase of four, and a final single lock. Together they lift the canal 54 feet 1 inch (16.48 m) to the "Leicester Summit", which it maintains all the way to Foxton Locks. The four staircase locks are equipped with working side ponds which are used to save water. The locks were built to carry narrowboats, and the system was opened in 1814. In the early 20th century there were plans to build an inclined plane similar to that at Foxton as part of a scheme to allow the passage of barges, but the plan was abandoned when the inclined plane at Foxton proved uneconomic.When the Grand Union Canal was formed in 1929, there were further proposals to widen the flight as part of the modernisation going on elsewhere on the Grand Union's network, but these plans did not develop further. The locks are hemmed in by the Roman Watling Street (now the A5 road), the M1 motorway, and the West Coast Main Line railway, which all fit through the narrow Watford Gap, between two hill systems. The locks are usually supervised during the cruising season from Easter to October, with the locks padlocked outside permitted hours. This is done to prevent problems arising from misuse and to ensure that queues are kept to the minimum. Boaters operate the locks themselves under the lock keeper's supervision. On arrival at the top or bottom boaters should report to the lock keeper to register their arrival before attempting to operate the flight. At busy times there can often be a delay of two hours or more but transit of the flight takes approximately 45 minutes; it is made quicker by the fact that the locks are narrow beam and the gates are light.