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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Motorway service stations
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pyx_e:
Also Aust, when as a young curate in Bristol I would drive out late at night and sip coffee, watching the traffic go over to the "promised land" while trying to make sense of ministry.
Another Aust fan, eh?
tangent/
As a teenager, I used to cycle out to Heathrow Terminal 3 in the days when it was the shiny new intercontinental terminal, sit in a coffee shop called "The Apple Tree" and bask in the exoticity of it all. Didn't wonder much about the ministry though. Probably explains a lot.
/tangent
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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OddJob
Shipmate
# 17591
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Posted
Whilst by no means wishing to be an apologist for Thatcherism, I do think the GB motorway service station cartel needs a good kick up the nether regions by an injection of market competition. Restrictions to one monopoly supplier every 30 miles can't be in the interests of the consumer or of road safety. Stopped at one yesterday, with some family members bursting for the loo at the mid-point of a 6 hour, 150 mile motorway journey, and other struggling to get through the entrance door to be ripped off in the shop.
That said, I do agree with the OP that the northern sections of the M6 show some of the best stations, in view of their surroundings and Dan Dare architecture.
Posts: 97 | From: West Midlands | Registered: Mar 2013
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
I am in a position to report to you on the ones on Interstate 90, between Albany and Buffalo.
They are built to a common pattern, in gabled clapperboard painted sage green, with rustic stone columns at the entrance. Outside is an antiqued board telling you about some village Hampden of the Revolution, or which now-extirpated indigenous people gave their name to the locality. Inside there is a Starbucks, a Travelmart and somewhere selling pizza/burgers. It is clean but a bit draughty.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Pyx_e
Quixotic Tilter
# 57
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Posted
quote:
Stopped at one yesterday, with some family members bursting for the loo at the mid-point of a 6 hour, 150 mile motorway journey
Ah! You were the bastard driving at 25mph, DRIVE FASTER.
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It is better to be Kind than right.
Posts: 9778 | From: The Dark Tower | Registered: May 2001
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busyknitter
Shipmate
# 2501
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Posted
Another vote for Tebay, Stafford and Killington Lake.
But for shipmates using the M6, I would also recommend Brockholes nature reserve, just off J30 at Preston. It has lakes, migrating birds, excellent opportunities to take a mid journey walk, a huge play area for kids, a floating visitor centre and a decent restaurant. There is even a petrol station at the M-way junction roundabout, right next to the reserve entrance.
Posts: 903 | From: The Wool Basket | Registered: Mar 2002
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rolyn
Shipmate
# 16840
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Eutychus:
Another Aust fan, eh?
And another ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Don't travel on motorways much these days , but I have fond memories of Aust .
We used to attend motorcycle rallies in S. Wales and, when returning home, would often pull into Aust for much needed shelter and refreshment having got wet .
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Change is the only certainty of existence
Posts: 3206 | From: U.K. | Registered: Dec 2011
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not entirely me
Shipmate
# 17637
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Posted
Another Tebay appreciator and I second the recommendation for Brockholes near Preston. They have nice ice-cream and a great play area.
Posts: 68 | From: England | Registered: Apr 2013
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Tulfes
Shipmate
# 18000
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Posted
Slight tangent/
We still talk occasionally about the 2 delicious scones we had at the coffee shop down below at Carlisle Cathedral, circa 2007 or 2008. Best I have ever had before or since. Worth a detour off the M74 even if you don't have time to visit the cathedral itself. Mind you, it could be a different baker/recipe nowadays.
Posts: 175 | Registered: Feb 2014
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mark_in_manchester
not waving, but...
# 15978
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Posted
Anyone been to Truckhaven near Carnforth (J35), M6?
Stopped here on way back from lakes - someone was desperate for the loo. Odd, in a really good way - quiet, very clean, mostly rooms for long-distance artic drivers. Good cheap caff and a great shop selling important stuff for professional drivers like 'proper tools' and birthday cards for wives and kids. Worth a look!
Oooh, and - not exactly motorway services - but the staff at the second Severn crossing once let me dismantle a motorbike engine in the 'wide load' part of the toll area, under cover and with light in the middle of a rainy night. Another time, total strangers gave me a bed. There are good folks out there, and I met more of them before mobile phones and breakdown cover.
[ 29. April 2014, 19:49: Message edited by: mark_in_manchester ]
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"We are punished by our sins, not for them" - Elbert Hubbard
(so good, I wanted to see it after my posts and not only after those of shipmate JBohn from whom I stole it)
Posts: 1596 | Registered: Oct 2010
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HughWillRidmee
Shipmate
# 15614
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Posted
Another vote for Tebay
I used to dawdle over a coffee whilst watching the ducks on the pond outside the southbound restaurant's widows and plucking up the courage to address the M6 from Preston to the M6 toll (company car - toll on expenses).
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The danger to society is not merely that it should believe wrong things.. but that it should become credulous, and lose the habit of testing things and inquiring into them...
W. K. Clifford, "The Ethics of Belief" (1877)
Posts: 894 | From: Middle England | Registered: Apr 2010
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TonyK
Host Emeritus
# 35
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
<snip>
Does anyone know whether the services they were going to open in Gloucestershire on a similar premise to Tebay have appeared yet?
<snip>
AG
News about the M5 'Tebay' type service area near Gloucester here!
I'll pop in when it opens and report back if the thread is still 'live'
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Yours aye ... TonyK
Posts: 2717 | From: Gloucestershire | Registered: May 2001
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
Mmmm, wonders if he can find an excuse to pass...
AG
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"It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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Wet Kipper
Circus Runaway
# 1654
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Posted
Happendon (Cairn Lodge) is the dodgy one on the M74. The actual place is right next to the motorway but it actually takes a while to get in and out of. And once you're there it feels you're in a 1980's cross channel ferry
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- insert randomly chosen, potentially Deep and Meaningful™ song lyrics here -
Posts: 9841 | From: further up the Hill | Registered: Nov 2001
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St. Gwladys
Shipmate
# 14504
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Posted
Called in at Tebay going to, and coming home from the Lake District - what an amazing place!
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"I say - are you a matelot?"
"Careful what you say sir, we're on board ship here"
From "New York Girls", Steeleye Span, Commoners Crown (Voiced by Peter Sellers)
Posts: 3333 | From: Rhymney Valley, South Wales | Registered: Jan 2009
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
We had a really good, if very plain, feed at a service station on the A1 somewhere in the north of England last time we were home and I can't for the life of me think where it was. Once I've remembered to ask D. I'll report back.
![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif)
Also, if you're travelling south from Edinburgh, just after you cross the border there's a Morrison's supermarket which does breakfast to die for - a huge platter of everything you could possibly want for breakfast, including Proper Bacon™ - for IIRC a fairly small amount of money.
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
We stopped (having got lost) last year at the Silver Yard Deli at Orton, which turned out to be very near the Tebay junction for the M6.
Excellent food and highly tranquil.
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by piglet:
Also, if you're travelling south from Edinburgh, just after you cross the border there's a Morrison's supermarket which does breakfast to die for - a huge platter of everything you could possibly want for breakfast, including Proper Bacon™ - for IIRC a fairly small amount of money.
That would be at Berwick (mentioned by me on the previous page).
Re the previous Scotland service station discussion, yes you're quite right it was Happendon I was thinking of. Ugly, soulless, thoroughly depressing place!
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Travelling south from Edinburgh, you take the exit for Moffat, and visit Jack and Rachel's tea room at the top end of the High St (up past the statue to The Sheep). After your freshly-cooked breakfast/bacon buttie/scone/way too much cake, you visit the woollen mill and buy a lambswool pullover, and the sweetie and whisky shop, coming away with a box of fudge and an interesting single malt.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jack the Lass:
... That would be at Berwick (mentioned by me on the previous page) ...
Piglet, before engaging mouth, make sure brain is in gear (and read the previous comments).
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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TonyK
Host Emeritus
# 35
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Posted
And the new Brookthorpe Services Area on the M5 northbound near Gloucester is open.
I expect I'll be passing it sometime soon, so I'll pop in and report back
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Yours aye ... TonyK
Posts: 2717 | From: Gloucestershire | Registered: May 2001
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busyknitter
Shipmate
# 2501
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Travelling south from Edinburgh, you take the exit for Moffat, and visit Jack and Rachel's tea room at the top end of the High St (up past the statue to The Sheep). After your freshly-cooked breakfast/bacon buttie/scone/way too much cake, you visit the woollen mill and buy a lambswool pullover, and the sweetie and whisky shop, coming away with a box of fudge and an interesting single malt.
When I wa a kid our annual family trip from Sussex to the West Highlands would invariably include a stop at Moffat, solely for
this stuff.
Posts: 903 | From: The Wool Basket | Registered: Mar 2002
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Gill H
Shipmate
# 68
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Posted
As a child, I loved Aust for one thingn- they had a 'Boot Hill' video game! Dad and I would spend ages playing it.
Simpler times...
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*sigh* We can’t all be Alan Cresswell.
- Lyda Rose
Posts: 9313 | From: London | Registered: May 2001
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TonyK
Host Emeritus
# 35
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Posted
So we visited the new 'Tebay' type services on the M5 this afternoon. It's near the village of Brookthorpe, but is sign-posted as 'Gloucester Services'. North-bound only at present...
First impression from outside - it reminded me of Rheged (not really surprising - owned/run by the same firm!)
The roof will be 'grass' - or at least some form of vegetation. At the moment it's virtually just earth - as are all the embankments and landscaping.
Inside it's very light and airy, with an impressive wooden rafter construction.
Restaurant is opposite the entrance and seemed nice - I noted that fish and chips were priced at £8.95, which is not unreasonable for this part of the world. To the right is a 'coffee bar' or something similar with the toilets behind. we did check those - very smart and modern with Dyson Airblade hand driers!
To the left is the 'Farm Shop'. It had a proper butcher's counter, with people buying fresh meat, a cheese counter with a good range of cheeses and a 'deli' counter with cold meats and a huge range of savoury pies. A lot of more conventional stuff was being sold too - beers, ciders, wines, spirits, icecreams (local - not mass-produced), sweets and so on.
Obviously very new, fresh and clean. It will be interesting to see how it progresses. The reports on the Tebay services intimate that things should be OK.
Interestingly, speaking to some of the people there, a good number were locals like us, checking out the new facility!
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Yours aye ... TonyK
Posts: 2717 | From: Gloucestershire | Registered: May 2001
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
Not exactly a motorway service station, but when we're on the A9 we usually find that a stop at the House of Bruar is de rigueur for their superlative soups, excellent millionaire's shortbread and splendidly-appointed bogs (and a misty-eyed gaze at their grossly over-priced luxury goods).
eta: and a wee bit further up the road, the Storehouse of Foulis is just as good, but less pretentious.
[ 09. May 2014, 15:38: Message edited by: piglet ]
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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