Independent - Stanmoor Garage, Stanmoor Road, Athelney, Somerset TA7 0SA 4
This is an amazing place! Not only because of its wonderful retro nature but also because of its hugely unlikely location. It's a bit of a mission to even find it, so narrow and minor are the roads near here. Having said that, I did rather annoy the owner when I referred to the location as the "back and beyond," he was very keen to impress upon me that this was the centre of England, the place of the re-birth of the England that nearly fell to the Vikings in about 878AD. It was quite funny, as he insisted I follow him quite literally up the garden path (next door) and through a back gate to the banks of the River Tone form where the monument to King Alfred was just four hundred yards away.
I also annoyed him when asked what was the greatest empire the world had ever seen and I answered him with the Roman Empire, when it was quite clear he wanted me to reply "the British Empire!"
Let's face it, the only reason Alfred chose here to rally his forces and try to fight back against the invading Vikings was because it's in the middle of a marsh, rather like the Isle of Ely was in the Fens, and not because it was a key location in the country. In a modern context it certainly is the back and beyond!
The monument to King Alfred here is not huge but it can be seen from several miles around,only because the land is so flat. In addition, it needs to be pointed out that although he was ultimately successful in fighting back against the Vikings, less than two hundred years later the country had fallen to the Normans. If you really want to know more follow this link
king-alfred.com/wp/tag/athelney/
Anyway, to the garage. First of all my thanks to the owner for allowing me to take these photos. Secondly, it is highly regarded locally, and it is still selling petrol, as someone stopped to get some while I was there. I duly waited until their business was concluded before embarking on my quick photo-shoot.
Lovely older architecture for the building is matched by a very old pole sign which once showed the older Anglo logo, the old English or gothic "A". Earlier still the garage had been supplied by Shell. for the last three decades or so it has been independent and is one of only three garages I have seen where the sign is in green and yellow and just reads "petrol." They have been buying on the spot market for all of the 21st century. A single dual fuel pump supplies unleaded and diesel.
Without any doubt this was the best garage/petrol station I saw on this entire trip.
Incredibly, Streetview has been down here four times, and the earliest view from 2009 shows there were once two separate pumps here, looking perhaps to have come in second hand from a Jet site. They had gone by 2011 to be replaced with the one here now. There was also a third even older Avery Hardoll pump I think.
www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.0599799,-2.928833,3a,75y,354.58...
Independent - Stanmoor Garage, Stanmoor Road, Athelney, Somerset TA7 0SA 4
This is an amazing place! Not only because of its wonderful retro nature but also because of its hugely unlikely location. It's a bit of a mission to even find it, so narrow and minor are the roads near here. Having said that, I did rather annoy the owner when I referred to the location as the "back and beyond," he was very keen to impress upon me that this was the centre of England, the place of the re-birth of the England that nearly fell to the Vikings in about 878AD. It was quite funny, as he insisted I follow him quite literally up the garden path (next door) and through a back gate to the banks of the River Tone form where the monument to King Alfred was just four hundred yards away.
I also annoyed him when asked what was the greatest empire the world had ever seen and I answered him with the Roman Empire, when it was quite clear he wanted me to reply "the British Empire!"
Let's face it, the only reason Alfred chose here to rally his forces and try to fight back against the invading Vikings was because it's in the middle of a marsh, rather like the Isle of Ely was in the Fens, and not because it was a key location in the country. In a modern context it certainly is the back and beyond!
The monument to King Alfred here is not huge but it can be seen from several miles around,only because the land is so flat. In addition, it needs to be pointed out that although he was ultimately successful in fighting back against the Vikings, less than two hundred years later the country had fallen to the Normans. If you really want to know more follow this link
king-alfred.com/wp/tag/athelney/
Anyway, to the garage. First of all my thanks to the owner for allowing me to take these photos. Secondly, it is highly regarded locally, and it is still selling petrol, as someone stopped to get some while I was there. I duly waited until their business was concluded before embarking on my quick photo-shoot.
Lovely older architecture for the building is matched by a very old pole sign which once showed the older Anglo logo, the old English or gothic "A". Earlier still the garage had been supplied by Shell. for the last three decades or so it has been independent and is one of only three garages I have seen where the sign is in green and yellow and just reads "petrol." They have been buying on the spot market for all of the 21st century. A single dual fuel pump supplies unleaded and diesel.
Without any doubt this was the best garage/petrol station I saw on this entire trip.
Incredibly, Streetview has been down here four times, and the earliest view from 2009 shows there were once two separate pumps here, looking perhaps to have come in second hand from a Jet site. They had gone by 2011 to be replaced with the one here now. There was also a third even older Avery Hardoll pump I think.
www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.0599799,-2.928833,3a,75y,354.58...