A great place which has been sadly lacking a TB hotel for far too long - so break your journey, stretch your legs, walk the dog and find a cache.Hopefully this one will last longer than its predecessor.
Wash Lane common lies just behind the services and is a haven of tranquility where you might see a green woodpecker, dragonflies or butterflies. The Mimmshall Brook runs the length of the common and goes to the Swallow Holes near North Mymms. Wash Lane was on the main coaching road from London to Holyhead before the St Albans Road was built in 1826 and the bridge on the common dates from 1775.
The service station (known locally as Bignell's Corner after a garden centre that stood nearby on the junction of the A1 and A6, before the M25 existed) was the first service station on the M25. It was opened on the 6th June 1987 by Margaret Thatcher.