Where are the Little Chefs going?

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AAndy
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by AAndy »

Truvelo wrote:That's the A456 at Hagley.

Next.....:lol:
You're too good Truvelo :mrgreen: ... just down the road from quite a nice garage too. (one that sells cars :D )
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AAndy
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by AAndy »

One thats still open :D (oddly)
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Paul
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by Paul »

This was once an Odeon, I think, and struggled on for years as an LC before giving up. It must have been used for other things as well. Sad.
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B1040
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by B1040 »

At one time it was a pub called the Mermaid.

Can't find any evidence for it ever having been a cinema.
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Truvelo
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by Truvelo »

I would say it was built in the 30's as it's very art deco :)
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Johnathan404
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by Johnathan404 »

My notes say it was built to replace the pub, which closed in 1937.
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PeterA5145
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by PeterA5145 »

Here's a picture of it as a pub in 1957:

http://www.peterboroughimages.co.uk/blog/?p=682
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Ben302
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by Ben302 »

Mattsignmaker wrote:Anyone know about this one in hellingsey? Was there last year and it was still open, although us and another couple were the only ones in there and the service was still bad!

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=BN27+4D ... 57.64,,0,0

Shame this ones gone as it had (up until 2010) attached to it a Burger King and I used to stop here every Saturday before Speedway at Arlington 5 miles away was always full of Speedway fans, Riders and Mechanics before and after the race meetings.

Also saddened to hear that just two LC's remain open in Kent was 3 but the Detling one has just been turned into a Mickey's Diner like the other former ones nearby on the A2 (Coastbound) and A229
ninny
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by ninny »

Ben302 wrote:
Mattsignmaker wrote:Anyone know about this one in hellingsey? Was there last year and it was still open, although us and another couple were the only ones in there and the service was still bad!

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=BN27+4D ... 57.64,,0,0

Shame this ones gone as it had (up until 2010) attached to it a Burger King and I used to stop here every Saturday before Speedway at Arlington 5 miles away was always full of Speedway fans, Riders and Mechanics before and after the race meetings.

Also saddened to hear that just two LC's remain open in Kent was 3 but the Detling one has just been turned into a Mickey's Diner like the other former ones nearby on the A2 (Coastbound) and A229

There will be no Little Chefs trading in Kent after Sept. Both Gate and Whitstable are earmarked for closure. Amazed Lamberhurst on the A21 is still trading. Closes at 1800 some nights but has managed to avoid all the closures so far.
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Paul
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by Paul »

B1040 wrote:At one time it was a pub called the Mermaid.

Can't find any evidence for it ever having been a cinema.
It was a guess but the building's very Art Deco so that brings to mind cinemas, not pubs! I stand corrected.

This is just the sort of place I'd buy up and run at a loss, if I won the lottery.
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Alan
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by Alan »

Granada were definitely the start of the slippery slope. They had the right idea but seemed to intent on opening as many new sites as they could without actually looking after the ones they already had. Plus, by the time they got their hands on AJ's they pretty much thought they had the roadside sewn up and probably rested on their laurels a bit.

Compass saw them as a means of getting their other brands onto the roadside but when that failed to have the desired effect they got rid of Little Chef and offloaded them to Permira.

I still maintain Permira wanted Travelodge but had to take Little Chef as well to get it. I can't actually think of anything positive that they did for Little Chef except sell it to People's Restaurant Company. They had some great ideas but sadly decided to use "Sale and leaseback" of sites to fund these. Little Chef are still paying the price of all this today!

I don't doubt that R Capital, as a Venture Capital firm, are quite keen to get a quicker return on their investment than perhaps a catering firm would be, and I suspect this may have led to a difference of opinion between them and Ian Pegler and him leaving (all 4 of the sites he re-opened have now closed or will close again for example). However, I'd just rather somebody stays in charge for long enough to actually roll their plans out and let any investment be spent wisely before someone else comes along with a new idea.

Wansford still makes me sad. It'd look so good with the new Little Chef branding and is crying out to be turned into something good.
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by Alan »

Also, does anyone know the history of Diner 168 on the A68. It's southbound, pretty much opposite the (now closed) Little Chef that was the Happy Eater as Thirsk. Diner 168 has all the Hallmarks of a Little Chef, Happy Eater or AJ's building but I can't find any evidence that it was one of them once. Does anyone know?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... 513537.jpg

http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/37/28/ ... ad91af.jpg
Repmobile
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by Repmobile »

Alan wrote:Also, does anyone know the history of Diner 168 on the A68. It's southbound, pretty much opposite the (now closed) Little Chef that was the Happy Eater as Thirsk. Diner 168 has all the Hallmarks of a Little Chef, Happy Eater or AJ's building but I can't find any evidence that it was one of them once. Does anyone know?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... 513537.jpg

http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/37/28/ ... ad91af.jpg


Awwww, I didn't know the A168 Thrsk LC had now closed. I loved stopping off there for a crap and a cake when travelling that way.

With the two further north on the A19 at Exelby's Services (North & South) long gone, it seems the A168/A19 is an LC free zone nowadays.

Re Diner 168 I am trying to recall what it was originally. I remember it opening as Diner 168 as I went in for breakfast the day it opened.

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Alan
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by Alan »

You might be OK. I'm sure I saw on the Facebook site that the old manageress at Thirsk Little Chef is looking to reopen it as an independent so watch the space....

On the A19, only Seaton Burn to the north of Newcastle remains, where the A19 meets the A1. It was Kelly's Kitchen originally then Little chef got it in 1990 I think.

There have been a few over the years that have come and gone.

There was one around Sunderland at the Easington service area on the southbound side that closed in the late 70s/ easly 80s. The Shell garages are still there though.

The two at Trenholme beside the BP garages south of Middlesborough opened in the mid 80s and closed in the mid 2000s. Northbound just looks like a house now and southbound became CJK's restaurant before closing again.

There was briefly one at Billingham at the A19/ A689 junction that opened and closed in the early 2000s and is now a KFC.

Then south of the A168 there was Shipton by Benningborough Little Chef which is now Vernon's furniture.

So that leaves the OK diner at Elwick and Diner 168 as the only proper roadside restaurants now. I'm sure Ian Pegler was keen to open some more branches in Yorkshire in 2009 but it never came to anything. I'd have thought the a19 would have been a prime candidate but instead the opposite happened.
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Big Nick
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by Big Nick »

Alan wrote: The two at Trenholme beside the BP garages south of Middlesborough opened in the mid 80s and closed in the mid 2000s. Northbound just looks like a house now and southbound became CJK's restaurant before closing again.
Do you mean Ingleby Cross? I once stopped at the northbound one for lunch on the way to Middlesbrough thinking I had an hour or more driving to go. When I got to my sisters 30 minutes later I then had a full roast dinner to eat :oops:
Google Earth shows there's a new little cafe in the back of the BP car park now.
SteveA30
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by SteveA30 »

There are other places on the A19. Woodside cafe north and south at Knayton. Exelby Services at Ingleby Arncliffe has Jans southbound and Truckstop northbound. At Elwick n/bnd is Cafe A19. OK Diner nearby. All from a 2005 guide so, changes may have occured since then.
There is supposed to be Services at Hawthorn, although they may be just garages.
NICK 647063
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by NICK 647063 »

Well I see the old little chef at Claxton on the A64 east of York is to reopen in a few weeks as an uncle Joe's Diner I have looked online and all Uncle Joe's seem in America, so is this a uk chain?

Seems the site sold very quick as last time the little chef closed they kept the site and reopened it but this time it was sold on I bet a Diner will do way better there!
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irrelevant
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by irrelevant »

Paul wrote:
Duncan wrote:
Paul wrote:Nice to see mid-century buildings such as the iconic Markham Moor LC have not only been saved from closure but also from the wrecking ball.
That one is now closed and boarded up.
Yes, you're right. However I believe there is a campaign to get it listed.
News today is that it has achieved listing, along with the Mobil station at Red Hill.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17 ... icRSS20-sa
(Audio: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/ne ... 719285.stm )
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by dave55uk »

The one near Stowmarket, just off the A14, is closing later this year. 'For Let' signs are already up outside. I asked one of the staff why Little Chef were closing it, and it appears the landlord is being greedy and asking for too much rent, something Little Chef cannot afford or is unwilling to pay.
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DavidNW9
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Re: where are the little chefs going?

Post by DavidNW9 »

It's a shame people would rather pay nearly £3 for a coffee than wait half an hour for a decent British meal. I once finished most of the Daily Mail crossword in a Little Chef, and rarely waited less than 15 minutes on arrival, often just to be served to have my order taken. The food itself was always reliable and almost worth waiting for (I don't like waiting) and the surroundings nice, especially when they had fruit machines as well. Maybe if the service were to reach the standards of the foreign imported companies everything else could more than compete on equal terms, but as so few are left I don't even know if it has.

I don't even know any now until I passed one in Ongar last week, but have happy memories of so many including Buckfastleigh and Radlett (my local one, unless it was a Happy Eater, I do get them confused) and the one in Frimley barely bigger than a single garage which may have been the smallest in Britain with about 8 tables. Considering how little is left from the 70s and 80s we're really lucky it's still around at all. I went to TGI Fridays when they first opened here, looked at the menu and saw the prices and walked straight out again.
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