Brightside’s brilliant buildings

Brightside’s sites are located across Devon and Cornwall – to find out more about the history of these historic sites, we spoke to Rich Cross, aka ‘The Services King‘

Tell us a bit about yourself, and how you came to be ‘the Services King’

I’m a member of the website Motorway Services Online. We’re the largest database of motorway service station information in the UK, and we also cover A road services and a few truck stops as well. I became a member of the website in around 2012, when I was about 12 or 13 years old. I joined because I used to go to work with my father, who is a truck driver, and was always fascinated by the motorway services when I was out and about with him, so Motorway Services Online seemed like a good place to grow that fondness. The website is owned by John Randall, who is based in Ireland nowadays – so he covers the goings-on over there, and I’m the largest content creator for UK services. I’ve been doing it full-time for about five years now – Covid put a bit of a stop to getting out and about, but now I’m back to touring the UK’s service stations.

It’s interesting that your fondness for service stations came from childhood memories, as it’s that kind of nostalgia that we’ve tried to tap into with Brightside. When Little Chef closed, we lost a place to sit down and take a break on your travels, which is something we want to offer at Brightside

Over the past ten-to-15 years, we’ve seen a move away from the sit-down restaurant-style experience you used to get from Little Chef and Happy Eater, towards a more grab-and-go approach. We’ve seen people move towards convenience and fast food, and we’ve had drive-throughs popping up on A roads, which is a real shame, because some of us do still like to sit down and enjoy a good meal. Hopefully Brightside will reignite that.

Our first Brightside will be in Haldon Hill, near Exeter. Tell us a bit about the history of the building

In 1975, the site was home to one of the original Welcome Break restaurants, which became a Happy Eater shortly after. In 1986, the restaurant was knocked down, and the current building was constructed. Happy Eater was bought out by Little Chef in 1995, and the building remained a Little Chef until 2012. Two years later, Route 5 was opened. Route 5 was the only restaurant in the Route Restaurant chain not numbered after the road it served, as there was already a Route 38.

Yes, that’s our site near Saltash

The Saltash site originally opened as a Little Chef in the early 1980s, and at the time, it was the southernmost Little Chef restaurant. The restaurant closed in 2005, when Little Chef’s then-owners Permira put the chain up for sale, and it reopened in March 2005 as Route 38.

And what do you know about the Brightside site in Honiton?

This site also has an interesting history, although it’s not as well documented as the others. It originally traded as the Newcott Chef, with a very similar logo and menu to that of Little Chef. At one point, there was a legal battle between the owners of Little Chef and Newcott Chef, with Little Chef claiming that Newcott Chef copied their format. In the early 2010s, Newcott Chef sold up to Route Restaurants, and the site reopened as Route 303.

Really interesting stuff! Are you excited for the opening of Brightside?

It looks really good from what I’ve seen so far! It’s nice to see that you’re bringing a new, modern twist to roadside dining, and I like that you’re keeping lots of the original buildings intact. I’m looking forward to visiting!