Motorway services discussion

[Basil Jet]

The nearest one to me is Charnock Richard on the M6 in Lancashire. It’s one of the ‘services over the carriageway’ types with a KFC and Burger King upstairs on a bridge over the motorway and then Waitrose, Starbucks and Subway etc downstairs. Because it’s quite local to me I rarely stop there but I’d say it needs completely knocking down and rebuilding. It’s clean enough and the facilities are okay but the whole site is just knackered.
One of the problems with these types of services is that when the time comes for demolition, the motorway that runs underneath needs to be closed, probably putting off Welcome Break from doing this. I think if it were to be demolished, they‘d probably just remove the bridge section and not replace it, leaving two separate Northbound and Southbound services.

I think most of the ones with a restaurant bridge over the motorway should be given listed status! They are a reminder of a time when a motorway was an exciting new part of a holiday, rather than just a function. Someone told me that the fire brigade are not fond of having kitchens on the bridge section, so if it were rebuilt, you would probably be right.

 

[yorksrob]

The nearest one to me is Charnock Richard on the M6 in Lancashire. It’s one of the ‘services over the carriageway’ types with a KFC and Burger King upstairs on a bridge over the motorway and then Waitrose, Starbucks and Subway etc downstairs. Because it’s quite local to me I rarely stop there but I’d say it needs completely knocking down and rebuilding. It’s clean enough and the facilities are okay but the whole site is just knackered.

It looks architecturally quite snazzy to me (in a 1960's way).

 

[Russel]

Are Tebay and Gloucester services linked in any way or are they just very similar, but unrelated businesses?

 

[jfollows]

Are Tebay and Gloucester services linked in any way or are they just very similar, but unrelated businesses?

Yes. Linked. Same company.
See https://gloucesterservices.com/about/

 

[Snow1964]

Are Tebay and Gloucester services linked in any way or are they just very similar, but unrelated businesses?

Owned by same people, although legally might be separate entities

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Are Tebay and Gloucester services linked in any way or are they just very similar, but unrelated businesses?

Owned by same people, although legally might be separate entities

Ultimate holding company is Chapel Beck Limited. The group owns / operates directly (or indirectly) Tebay Services, Cairn Lodge Services (near Lanark), Gloucester Services and the Rheged Centre (near Penrith), amongst other trading entities. During the period ended 3rd July 2022, the group reported a profit of over GBP7mln on overall group turnover of GBP143mln. The businesses are owned/managed by various members of the Dunning family from Orton, Cumbria and employ over a thousand staff.

 

[TheLunaPark]

It looks architecturally quite snazzy to me (in a 1960's way).

I think that's the first time I've heard Charnock Richard be described as snazzy haha. Each to their own of course but to me it looks run down and a bit depressing.

I think most of the ones with a restaurant bridge over the motorway should be given listed status! They are a reminder of a time when a motorway was an exciting new part of a holiday, rather than just a function. Someone told me that the fire brigade are not fond of having kitchens on the bridge section, so if it were rebuilt, you would probably be right.

Yeah as you say in their early days, these service stations were quite the attraction. I think it is still nice to be able to sit in a unique position over the carriageway whilst staying warm and dry having some food/drink but I reckon it needs a lot of work. I honestly think given the choice, Welcome Break would rather have done with the bridge bit. I'm sure structurally the whole thing was pretty well built but I find it quite depressing inside to be honest. I suspect even just renovation work would require some form of motorway closure, even just to erect scaffolding etc. It could be made so much more airy and inviting given the attention and investment but hey ho.

 

[PTR 444]

Out of interest, are there any contingency plans if high volumes of traffic are forced to pull into a service area as a result of a road closure? I ask because we were travelling home from visiting family this afternoon and got caught up in delays caused by an accident on the M25 clockwise between Cobham services and J10. In this instance we were lucky as Cobham’s layout allows traffic to exit in the opposite direction which enabled us to make a U-turn and divert via Leatherhead. I’d be interested to know how traffic would be managed if a motorway became blocked just after an online MSA exit slip road.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I think that's the first time I've heard Charnock Richard be described as snazzy haha. Each to their own of course but to me it looks run down and a bit depressing.

Is Charnock Richard the one with the (now disused) sky lounge restaurant tower?

Whichever one it is, I remember my dad taking us up to the sky restaurant once. I would have been about 7 and thought it was fantastic... not sure I'd be quite as easy to impress nowadays!

 

[TheLunaPark]

Is Charnock Richard the one with the (now disused) sky lounge restaurant tower?

Whichever one it is, I remember my dad taking us up to the sky restaurant once. I would have been about 7 and thought it was fantastic... not sure I'd be quite as easy to impress nowadays!

If it’s the one I think you mean, that’s Forton/Lancaster Services further up the M6.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

If it’s the one I think you mean, that’s Forton/Lancaster Service ls further up the M6.

Cheers. Now that it's closed, I feel like I'm part of a rather exclusive club having been up there!

 

[Lewisham2221]

I think that's the first time I've heard Charnock Richard be described as snazzy haha. Each to their own of course but to me it looks run down and a bit depressing.


Yeah as you say in their early days, these service stations were quite the attraction. I think it is still nice to be able to sit in a unique position over the carriageway whilst staying warm and dry having some food/drink but I reckon it needs a lot of work. I honestly think given the choice, Welcome Break would rather have done with the bridge bit. I'm sure structurally the whole thing was pretty well built but I find it quite depressing inside to be honest. I suspect even just renovation work would require some form of motorway closure, even just to erect scaffolding etc. It could be made so much more airy and inviting given the attention and investment but hey ho.

Surely nothing can look as run down and depressing as the footbridge connecting the two sides of Sandbach services?

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[TheLunaPark]

Surely nothing can look as run down and depressing as the footbridge connecting the two sides of Sandbach services?

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

Indeed

 

[Basil Jet]

Surely nothing can look as run down and depressing as the footbridge connecting the two sides of Sandbach services?

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

The Scott Mills Bridge at Fleet services is pretty comparable... although TripAdvisor calls it the best bridge in Fleet Services!

 

[Russel]

Surely nothing can look as run down and depressing as the footbridge connecting the two sides of Sandbach services?

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

To be fair, doing anything about the external appearance would involve some kind of closure of the Motorway below, which I can't imagine being very popular.

 

[route101]

I wonder what is the least used motorway service station perhaps?

 

[PTR 444]

I wonder what is the least used motorway service station perhaps?

Severn View?

 

[wilbers]

Ultimate holding company is Chapel Beck Limited. The group owns / operates directly (or indirectly) Tebay Services, Cairn Lodge Services (near Lanark), Gloucester Services and the Rheged Centre (near Penrith), amongst other trading entities. During the period ended 3rd July 2022, the group reported a profit of over GBP7mln on overall group turnover of GBP143mln. The businesses are owned/managed by various members of the Dunning family from Orton, Cumbria and employ over a thousand staff.

One of whom is my cousin. She has to travel to all of those locations at some points. Rheged and Tebay rather easier to go to regularly than the other two.

 

[Russel]

Ultimate holding company is Chapel Beck Limited. The group owns / operates directly (or indirectly) Tebay Services, Cairn Lodge Services (near Lanark), Gloucester Services and the Rheged Centre (near Penrith), amongst other trading entities. During the period ended 3rd July 2022, the group reported a profit of over GBP7mln on overall group turnover of GBP143mln. The businesses are owned/managed by various members of the Dunning family from Orton, Cumbria and employ over a thousand staff.

Makes sense now, every time I've been through the Rheged Centre on the X4 it's external appearance has reminded me of Gloucester and Tebay...

No idea how to pronounce it though.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I wonder what is the least used motorway service station perhaps?

Perhaps that would be a new series for Jon of Auto Shenanigans (who made the "All the Motorway Services" videos posted upthread)...

 

[yorksrob]

Perhaps that would be a new series for Jon of Auto Shenanigans (who made the "All the Motorway Services" videos posted upthread)...

Well worth watching if Jon of Autoshenanigans has anything to do with it

(See this channel, its brilliant).

 

[Blindtraveler]

I am not a fan of the current format of many motorway services with franchised branded outlets, far preferred the more traditional format particularly used by the likes of welcome break with a decent self-service restaurant serving a variety of meals, and evolution of that could be brought back but with a pre-order takeaway option from a side hatch rather than forcing people to use outlets that serve sandwiches or snacks or the likes of McDonald's for stop my other big gripe is the frequency or other lack thereof at which toilet facilities are refurbished, these facilities get hammered and we'll become life expired quicker than toilets in many other places with the possible exception of airports and Rail stations.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I am not a fan of the current format of many motorway services with franchised branded outlets, far preferred the more traditional format particularly used by the likes of welcome break with a decent self-service restaurant serving a variety of meals, and evolution of that could be brought back but with a pre-order takeaway option from a side hatch rather than forcing people to use outlets that serve sandwiches or snacks or the likes of McDonald's for stop my other big gripe is the frequency or other lack thereof at which toilet facilities are refurbished, these facilities get hammered and we'll become life expired quicker than toilets in many other places with the possible exception of airports and Rail stations.

Whilst the services have multiple different brands operating at them, some of which are recognisable from the high street, they're in most cases all operated by the company that manages the site. For example I worked at a RoadChef site: some days I'd be in the regular shop or the petrol station, other days I'd be handed a brown shirt and told to do a shift on the Costa. I assume that most of the long-established legacy sites still operate in the same manner. Mileage may vary at services like Cullompton which is on a single site which is (legally) accessible to non-Motorway traffic.

 

[Rhinojerry]

Cheers. Now that it's closed, I feel like I'm part of a rather exclusive club having been up there!

Yes,i stopped there in 1966 with family hdg to Workington to stay with grandparents.Remember eating sausage roll up there and seeing a Police Jag passing by,the sporty one.
Also we passed earlier the West Germany team bus hdg to Goodison for the semi final,Helmut Haller waving back at us,also Franz B.wot memories.

 

[Iskra]

Whilst the services have multiple different brands operating at them, some of which are recognisable from the high street, they're in most cases all operated by the company that manages the site. For example I worked at a RoadChef site: some days I'd be in the regular shop or the petrol station, other days I'd be handed a brown shirt and told to do a shift on the Costa. I assume that most of the long-established legacy sites still operate in the same manner. Mileage may vary at services like Cullompton which is on a single site which is (legally) accessible to non-Motorway traffic.

When I worked for Moto in my uni days, while the franchises were held by Moto, the brands did at least have their own dedicated staff at each site so Moto staff would have a better chance of knowing what they were doing. I did Costa, then transferred to M&S which was probably the best job I have ever had, although it wouldn’t pay my bills nowadays.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

When I worked for Moto in my uni days, while the franchises were held by Moto, the brands did at least have their own dedicated staff at each site so Moto staff would have a better chance of knowing what they were doing. I did Costa, then transferred to M&S which was probably the best job I have ever had, although it wouldn’t pay my bills nowadays.

RoadChef was supposed to be the same, but those of us who were high-season temps were expected to switch around as needed. Costa was more glamourous, but working the fuel was not only much easier but also paid better! August Bank Holiday was the best, as for working it you could choose either double-time + a day's holiday in lieu, or triple-time. As a seasonal employee there was no point in the former so triple-pay it was. Couple that with the overnight rate, plus the extra weighting for working a double-shift (evening then through the night) and the extra pay for being on the Forecourt, and I was doing eight hours at £16/h, then a very quiet eight hours overnight at £26/h! (This was in 2005).

The downside was being too tired to drive home at 6am the next day, so had to call my dad to collect me and then help me fetch my car that evening.

 

[jon81uk]

Out of interest, are there any contingency plans if high volumes of traffic are forced to pull into a service area as a result of a road closure? I ask because we were travelling home from visiting family this afternoon and got caught up in delays caused by an accident on the M25 clockwise between Cobham services and J10. In this instance we were lucky as Cobham’s layout allows traffic to exit in the opposite direction which enabled us to make a U-turn and divert via Leatherhead. I’d be interested to know how traffic would be managed if a motorway became blocked just after an online MSA exit slip road.

I once was travelling on the M5 when traffic was very slow moving due to flooding and store damage, there was announcements as part of the traffic update on the radio not to stop at Strensham services. Due to the slow traffic more people needed to stop for the toilet and the volume of people overwhelmed the plumbing and the toilets broke/blocked.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I once was travelling on the M5 when traffic was very slow moving due to flooding and store damage, there was announcements as part of the traffic update on the radio not to stop at Strensham services. Due to the slow traffic more people needed to stop for the toilet and the volume of people overwhelmed the plumbing and the toilets broke/blocked.

When the M5 November pile-up near Taunton happened several years ago, the Northbound side of Taunton Deane services was somewhat overwhelmed by people held up by the closure. I'd finished working there by then, but old colleagues told me it became rather frantic. The Northbound side wasn't built to handle the same volumes that the Southbound side was for some reason, so with the blockage being where it was the facilities couldn't cope. Apparently some hardier folk chose to walk over the bridge to the Southbound side, despite it being a cold and foggy November and the bridge being a rather bleak concrete one which is open to the elements.

 

[TheTallOne]

I got confused at a moto recently

Advert showing for a noodle place. Nope, no noodle place there. Weird.

Then just after 12 noon, it appeared.

The electronic signs above one of the units changed from “good breakfast” to “chozen noodle” and the food presumably got swapped out too.

 

[Lucan]

Apparently some hardier folk chose to walk over the [Taunton Deane services] bridge to the Southbound side, despite it being a cold and foggy November and the bridge being a rather bleak concrete one which is open to the elements.

You need to be hardy to walk 100 yards in the open air these days? Heaven help us! I have walked over that bridge several times in recent years late at night when food was available only on the other side. The entire motorway experience is bleak IMHO anyway, but I've got used to it.

Two of the next nearest services (Exeter and Bridgwater) are nightmares to reach (via massive busy multi-lane roundabouts with traffic lights) and the other, Cullumpton, is cramped and westbound usage is discouraged with no signs for it.