Plaque celebrates first petrol filling station

A plaque marking the site of Britain's first petrol filling station has been unveiled.

The pioneering filling station on the A4 Bath Road near Aldermaston Wharf in west Berkshire was established by the Automobile Association (AA) and was operating by November 1919, with its official opening thought to have taken place on 2 March 1920.

Now, a plaque has been unveiled close to the original site, and West Berkshire Council hopes it will encourage people to learn more about it.

It said finding the exact location of the station was a "joint effort" involving local historians and motoring enthusiasts, Tim Green and Roger Day, alongside the council's highways and archaeology teams.

The original building was a simple timber and weatherboard structure, with a canopy over the filling bay.

Motorists were served at the filling station's single hand-operated pump by the organisation's uniformed patrolmen, according to English Heritage.

Tim Green and Roger Day, the authors of A Motoring History of the Kennet Valley, shared a scale sketch of the filling station from the AA archive, held at Hampshire Record Office.

The council said that by combining evidence from this plan with clues in 1920 British Pathé footage, the team was able to pinpoint the site on the south side of the A4.

The historic newsreel describes the station as the first of its kind in Great Britain and shows a car pulling off the Bath Road and stopping beneath the station's canopy, before an AA attendant uses a hose to fill it with fuel, according to the council.

Leader of West Berkshire Council, Jeff Brooks, said: "This is a wonderful piece of West Berkshire's history and a fascinating reminder of how much our local area has contributed to the story of British motoring."

He added: "We hope the plaque will encourage residents and visitors to discover more about this important part of our local heritage."