Little Chef at Tot Hill

A look at the former Little Chef restaurant at Haughley Park Services in Stowmarket, Suffolk.

We drove past the old Little Chef on what was once the A14 while on a trip to Suffolk last week.

We used to pass by the roadside restaurant a fair bit on our visits to Ipswich back in the noughties, that was until the A14 at Haughley Park Services was bypassed in 2008.

This Little Chef restaurant soldiered on until it was closed in September 2012.

It's an interesting piece of roadside history.

We felt very nostalgic during the pandemic and spent time seeing what old brands from our childhood we could still find while out and about on our rather limited travels. We've been to quite a lot of Blockbuster Video stores, Happy Shopper shops, Toys R Us locations, Grainger Games shops, and Woolworths locations over the last couple of years!

Related blog posts:

• Little Chef

I REMEMBER LITTLE CHEF

Do you remember Little Chef?

Many thanks to Megan Clark-Bagnall for sending me this brilliant badge from her mission to visit all of the remaining Little Chef diners in 2017 - a total of 41.

A very nice addition to my collection

What a quest. Find out more on Megan's Little Chef website.

While the brand was an ever present through my lifetime, I don't remember stopping at Little Chef's, or even Happy Eaters, when my family were on the road for day trips and holidays. Perhaps there weren't any on the routes from Abingdon to Barry Island or Minehead. I do however remember going to the Little Chef in Berinsfield, Oxfordshire for a meal in the late 80's or early 90's.

We also used to regularly pass by the Little Chef in Flimwell while en route to Hastings for minigolf tournaments.

The last Little Chef closed its doors in 2018. Interestingly the Little Chef website is still online.

Happy Eater

Do you remember Happy Eater?

Did you used to stop at Happy Eater, or were you more of a Little Chef fan?

Happy Eater restaurants were once a familiar sight on A-roads in the South East and Midlands of England. Set up in 1973 Happy Eater was created as a competitor to Little Chef.

The brand was eventually bought out by it's big rival Little Chef in the mid-nineties. The last Happy Eater closed its doors in 1997.

Neither brand exists on the roadsides of England anymore.

Interestingly if you visit Mauritius you can still dine at a Happy Eater restaurant!

Lost brands

We've seen traces of a number of old and defunct brands that were big in the 80s and 90s on our travels around the country. These have included Woolworths in Stoke-on-Trent, Woolworths Big W in Edinburgh, Kwik Save in Barrow-in-Furness, Blockbuster Video in Fallowfield, Tandy in Hitchin, RadioShack in Lytham Saint Annes and Toys R Us in Ancoats and Warrington.

Little Thief

I'm missing being out and about in Manchester. Every time I have a wander around the city centre I spot a new piece of street art.

Looking through my snaps from previous walks round town I spotted this Little Thief sticker by GRW82 Greatt Whyte.