A brief history of filling stations
FILLING stations and oil firm logos have dominated our roads for years. But now, petrol signage often takes second place to fast food branding.
Pre-1920s Filling up car from a can
PRIOR to the petrol pump revolution, motorists typically filled up with fuel bought in two-gallon cans from garages and hardware shops. The cans would be filled by staff from a bigger drum, and because the cans were a standard size there was no need to measure deliveries at the pump.
1920s to 1960s Attended filling stations
THE first UK filling station was opened by the Automobile Association in 1919, and promoted British benzole – made from coal – so drivers wouldn’t have to rely on imported Russian fuel that indirectly supported the Bolshevik revolution. By 1923 the country had a network of 7,000 pumps, many on garage forecourts and outside shops, as well as at village forges. Attendant service was the norm right up to the sixties.
1960s The self-service revolution
IN 1958 in Plymouth, racing driver Stirling Moss opened the UK’S first filling station to be built on a roundabout. In 1963 the garage’s visionary owner George Turnbull installed the country’s first self-service petrol pumps, allowing him to sell petrol cheaper than local competitors. Motorists love a bargain, and we’ve been pumping our own fuel on selfservice forecourts ever since.
1970s Panic at the pumps
WITH petrol so vital to modern life, when supplies are threatened it’s no wonder panic sets in. The 1973 oil embargo by OPEC producers in the Middle East was designed to influence Western policy on the Arab/israeli conflict, and the result was rationing of supplies, soaring prices and queues at UK petrol stations. Panic buying and queues were also seen in 2012 (right) when a tanker driver strike looked imminent.
Present day Rise of convenience stores
OVER the past three decades garages have responded to tight margins on fuel by selling other goods at forecourt shops. First it was oil and accessories, then news and tobacco, and now they are full-blown convenience stores and takeaways; many customers don’t even use the pumps at all.