| Opened: 1 November 1963 Original owner: Top Rank Latter owner: Pavillion Current Owner: Moto (formerly Granada) Name Change : Medway (since 1992) |
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Then:
The Rotunda is now no longer in use but still present. As you can see, the front entrance has also been extended and is now clad to give a more modern look. Trees and advertising boards now obstruct the view of the opposite side.
The bridge restaurant. Waitress service.
Trivia:
Thus far the first MSA i’ve seen with fresh cut flowers in the mens toilets (on display, not sale).
Has a bridge restaurant- you can enjoy your lunch watching the road (but there is seating elsewhere if you want to get away from it!)
The only services on the M2 (but the M2 is only 25 miles long anyway)
Original name (Farthing Corner) is derived like most MSA from the nearest village, the name change to Medway, represents the M2’s role as the Medway towns by-pass
Apparently, the bridge which was part of the structure of the complex, was open, not covered. You can see this in the “old and now” photos above
Current:
Another set of services that has seen a decline in traffic, and like Aust on the M4, it is due to another motorway. For many years, the A2-M2-A2 route was the main route for Dover from London, and Farthing Corner was the only stop off point on the M2 (although the A2 offered and still offers many roadside cafe’s )
However, the M20 now takes a lot of the London to Dover traffic as the motorway is longer and more direct. So Farthing Corner has had a mixed life, seeing a huge build up in traffic, bulging beyond capacity, then a decline in traffic, after the M20 opened. However, it has adapted with the times, and it is quite a pleasant place to stop, due to the work of the staff there, as the surroundings offer nothing- no scenery just a line of trees to hide the services from the outside world. It is less regimented than most MSA’s- there is no central seating area, you can choose from several quite corners, or sit on the bridge (alongside the on-bridge Burger King). There are range of choices of food- including a Little Chef, and some coffee stands. The arcade is full of gambling machines, and the video machines are (unusually) sprinkled around the complex- although this maybe due to the refurbishments.
Noteable Features:
Peaceful, Clean
Flowers in the toilets (Yes-the mens)
Bureaux de Change
 Bridge Restaurant today- Fast food |
 Entrance, Little Chef and Money Exchange |
I’m not sure when this article was written but now in 2012 it is in a sorry state with boarded windows, flaking paint, falling gutters (mainly on the l/bound side when viewed from the bridge), the BK is extortionate, and the place is generally filthy.
As a young child in the 1960s my parents would sometimes take me to Farthing Corner services for a treat. I remember the bridge across the M2 being open with tables with umbrellas on them, although I think it was glazed in by about 1970. I remember eating sausages, beans and chips and they served very long thin sausages that I thought were delicious – I told my parents that I didn’t think they grew that long! There were also attractive recessed lights in the ceiling that intrigued me as a child. I regularly used the services in the 1980s when I used to escort coach parties on tours to Europe. Happy days…
Little Chef has long since closed. Don’t recall a bureaux de change either. Remaining Burger King and WHSmiths are absolutely extortionate. Best leave the motorway at the junction nearer Gillingham and venture to the nearby Hempstead Valley shopping centre (much cheaper fuel too).
The bureaux de change was there from at least 1979 till they closed in 2008.
Originally owned by Borzo investments which became Travelex.
I like these services. I like to eat a bacondouble cheesburger on the bridge over the motorway, I really enjoy watching cara come under me. But I just love roads anyway.
I think all of us who know Cara feel the same way.
I first passed along the M2 in 1972, when I got my first car. In those days – and I remember this clearly – this MSA was simply signed “Services”. There was no question of “Farthing Corner”, which came Palomg later. I still have. Mid-70s motorway atlas which reproduces the signage as just “Servuces”.
I spent many hours as a teenager in 1976/77 at the cafe. It was our local hang out place everyone met up there, we would all buy a drink and it would last hours so we didn’t get told to go, we would put money in the juke box and just listen to music Sunday afternoons would be the day you would see everyone, it brings back so many memories, I used to live in farthing corner .. these days I’m in Australia but I have been back a few times and visited the old place ?
I remember going to Dover from Lincolnshire and stopping and having a sleep in the at Farthing Corner
Apparently, as of 30/7/18
Using the Service Rd as a cut through is a £50 fine and 3points !!
Cameras being installed