


 Abandoned Petrol Station, A38 near Derby
    Abandoned Petrol Station, A38 near Derby         
              After taking a massive detour across open  countryside including a building site for a new marina because of the  most direct road being closed and being roasted by the hot weather I  eventually arrived in Findern - this was only half the journey. I then  had to traipse across more land to get to a rusty little petrol station.
I don't know much about this petrol station or its twin across the road,  I do remember them being in use when I was a kid (early 1990s). They  both closed in the mid 1990s, the Derby/Mansfield bound station has  since been returned to use as part of a haulage depot, while this one  for those bound towards Burton and the West Midlands has gradually  declined to a rusting ruin. The site was briefly the encampment for some  travellers a few years back however they moved on.
Its been vandalised to high heaven, the shop building is extensively  trashed to the point where partitions have been ripped down, and a  gaping hole has formed in the wall facing onto the A38 and the roof  supports are dropping down. The canopy over the pumps is also falling  apart, and is rusting quite heavily.
While not spectacular, it was certainly thought provoking - could this  be what the bleak future beholds for car infrastructure? The car  succeeded the railway, but what will succeed the car? Could urban  explorers in the future be exploring the remains of abandoned motorways  and service stations with rusting gantries and crumbling flyovers?
Perhaps i'm thinking too far ahead...