444 Former Filling Stations
Anecdotes
Arriving at a tyre repair depot in the outskirts of a south coast port Frank Eye asked a the duty mechanic of the whereabouts of old petrol stations. He was directed to another town where the mechanic was brought up and told to look for the "old whorehouse". Some butchers in that town confirmed the previous dual purpose of the ornate building.
Frank Eye examined the premises and approached the out-of-use and obsolete petrol pumps. Fixed to one was the enigmatic inscription "We no longer serve petrol."
One of the first photographs Frank Eye took was of a fenced off forecourt in the west country. It had been the site of a double murder investigation. The barriers bore notices saying that it was a crime scene and not open for access to the public. A rubber forensic glove lay on the bitumen just outside the police perimeter fence.
In several locations tenants of new buildings were unaware of the previous history of their site but older residents remembered.
At one smart executive housing development the smell of petrol still hung in the air. Maybe one of the owners of a 4 x 4 had overfilled their petrol tank.
In Nottingham a young girl provided information about a derelict forecourt, proclaiming proudly, "That's where my dad filled up!"
At a disused forecourt surrounded by a neat white pallisade fence, a motor caravan was parked under the freshly painted canopy. The retired widower told how the original pumps used to be next to a small wooden shed at the road junction. He had married the daughter of the proprietor and they built up the business in smart improved premises until a faster dual carriageway had taken the traffic elsewhere.
In many of the images on this site the tarmac occupies a major part. The first photograph made in France by Joseph Nicephore Niepce used bitumen as a reagent with light. Roads with new tarmac are dark. After the sun has shone on them they turn grey. Look at a lump of roofing tar when it is first broken open. The inside is dark black, until it is exposed, when it turns lighter.