The New Fox North branch is a former Little Chef restaurant located on the northbound side of the A1 near South Witham, Lincolnshire.
Address and Onsite Information []
ADDRESS: A1 Northbound, South Witham, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG33 5LN
ONSITE FACILITIES: Starbucks, Travelodge (Book Room)
History[]
The 1970s and early 80s had seen car ownership and long distance travel grow hugely and the A1 was getting steadily busier. Thus, with its existing sites doing well, Forte decided it was time to colonise more bits of the A1 with Little Chef restaurants. The Peterborough to Grantham stretch was up next to receive the treatment. In May 1984, they opened their site at New Fox northbound, beside an existing filling station, and in a highly visible location. The site was later joined by a Forte Travelodge in order to fully cater for the weary traveller.
The restaurant at New Fox was quite different to the others of the era. The roofline was higher, it was tiled and not flat, but most strikingly, the restaurant had a conservatory, offering panoramic views of the Lincolnshire countryside and the A1.
At some stage in the 80s, all the Little Chefs around Britain were given female names by the owner. The New Fox North branch was named "Mabel".
In 1988/89, following the success of the northbound site, Forte decided that it required a partner in crime and New Fox South Little Chef was built on the southbound side, slightly to the north of its northbound chum. However, by 2002/03 this had closed, probably due to its proximity to Little Chef's more major site at Colsterworth, which southbound travellers reached first. The filling station also closed in the mid 2000s, but despite this, New Fox North continued to trade.
On 30th July 2017, New Fox North was one of a number of sites to be closed down by new owners Euro Garages. It later reopened as a Starbucks.
