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Your UK motorway service station count

Matt N

Matt N

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Hi guys. I apologise if this seems like an overly geeky counting thread, but on my recent trip to Yorkshire to visit Flamingo Land, I stopped in two new service stations that I'd never stopped in before; on the way up, we stopped in Trowell services on the M1, and on the way back, we stopped in Tamworth services on the M42. As someone who loves counting and listing things, it got me thinking about which UK motorway service stations I'd been to, and it made me mildly tempted to try and work out which service stations I've been to to concoct a rough count. With this in mind, I'd be interested to know; roughly how many UK motorway service stations have you been to?

I know most people probably won't keep track; indeed, I didn't until just now when I tried to count them! With that being said, some on this forum seem very knowledgeable about roads and like they might know this sort of thing, and I'm sure that if you looked, there are more names than you'd expect that ring a bell!

If you're unsure, I'd recommend a look at the full list of all 94 UK service stations on Wikipedia to help jog your memory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motorway_service_areas_in_the_United_Kingdom

I did this, and looking through the list definitely helped to jog my memory, as quite a few names rung a bell!

So, my rough count that I can ascertain from the list, in alphabetical order, is as follows:
  1. Charnock Richard (M6, Welcome Break)
  2. Cobham (M25, Extra)
  3. Fleet (M3, Welcome Break)
  4. Frankley (M5, Moto)
  5. Keele (M6, Welcome Break)
  6. Leigh Delamere (M4, Moto)
  7. Magor (M4, Roadchef)
  8. Membury (M4, Welcome Break)
  9. Norton Canes (M6 Toll, Roadchef)
  10. Reading (M4, Moto)
  11. Stafford (M6, Moto/Roadchef)
  12. Tamworth (M42, Moto)
  13. Trowell (M1, Moto)
So, of the 94 service stations in the UK, I reckon I've only been to 13 of them based on my vague recollections and some scouting through Google Images. I could have been to more, but I can't remember them at this point in time.

To some degree, they all kind of blend into one another, but some particular ones that stand out in my memory are:
  • I remember being very impressed by Cobham. There was a phenomenally wide range of restaurants, including even some brands that I would never have expected to find in a service station, such as Pizza Express and Nando's! It almost seemed like I was back in Cribbs Causeway (a local-ish retail and leisure park) rather than in a service station!
  • I remember stopping at Stafford for quite some time due to our car getting a flat tyre on the way up to a holiday house in the Lake District. If I'm remembering rightly, my parents later got fined for exceeding the 2 hours' free parking time!
  • I remember Norton Canes being very clean and shiny, which my dad attributed to it being on the lesser-used M6 Toll!
  • Magor is our local service station. When I was in Sixth Form, people always used to nip there if they wanted a McDonald's for lunch, and indeed, at least a fair percentage of the times I've gone there will have been from home with the specific intent of getting a McDonald's rather than being on the way back from somewhere!
But I'd be interested to know; how many UK motorway service stations have you been to?
 
I can’t list them, although I do have a favourite as I do a lot of driving up and down the M1 between the midlands and London…

Toddington Services.. I know where to park for a quick easy exit, where the toilets are and as a bonus it has a Greggs hidden away on the outside of the building, which is good if you hate packed out food courts on the inside like me.

.
 
Christ.

Anyone been to Medway? There, they like it STRONG. The coffee, that is. She relocated from Strensham and upcharged folk by default.

Coffee please
You like it STRONG? (roll your R for full effect)
Umm, yes.
*adds extra shot*
That'll be £2875.50.

Road Chef's finest.
 
Not going to list them all, but over the years have had the pleasure?? of visiting every service station on M6 between junctions 20(M56) & 1(M1) (including M6 Toll), M1 from J24 (A50) to 6A (M25), all on M40. Throw in a few more heading up north on M6 too, couple on M25 and M5, as well as the delightful A14 and A50, plus some random others which are pretty much forgettable basket cases.

Can't say I have every put any fuel in my car in any though, usually just a quick pit stop for loo and overpriced coffee, as well as a chocolate bar from everyone's favourite WHSmith, where even the self checkouts try and flog you a Galaxy bar for a £1 :D.

I do usually now prefer to look for alternatives to service stations. The modern ones aren't too bad, but if the likes of Hilton Park (M6), Toddingtion, Newport Pagnall & Watford Gap (all M1) were nuked off the face of the earth can't say I'd lose any sleep over it :p, easily the 3 grottiest ones I have ever had the misfortune of visiting in recent years; They make Crewe Railway station a delight to behold 🙄.
 
I quite like Oxford South. Stafford and Charnock Richard both feel stuck in the mid-nineties, along with my associated memories of drives with my family to BPB and Alton. One tends to find that if a services is equipped with an M&S Simply Food, the ambience and overall experience is less likely to encourage patrons to walk into the central lane with despair.

Undoubtedly the finest services is the only one I'd hitch a ride to voluntarily, that being the independently-owned Tebay Services in Cumbria.

@Matt N never mind the retracked Megafobia, you need to use this parallel passion as motivation to pass your driving test.
 
Been to too many to be able to remember which, can't even list which motorways I've used with all certainty. If you're really into service stations give Auto Shenanigans a watch on Youtube, Jon's first series he did was visiting every services in Great Britain.
 
I love counting stuff and keeping track of places I’ve been but I’ve never thought to count motorway service stations. To me they are just somewhere that you stop off you to go for a pee to save you having to pull over at the side if the motorway and doing it al fresco. Or to buy an incredibly expensive coffee if you feel you like are getting tired or even take a 20 minute power nap.

Living in the North East I’ve stopped off at Hartshead Moor plenty of times and Wooly Edge as well. But these days I’ll often just pull in to Sheffield Meadowhall shopping centre instead as it’s quick to get to if you are driving down the M1.
 
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I wouldn’t say I had a “passion” for service stations and motorways per se. I didn’t even try and count which services I’d been to until last night, and even then, I had difficulty determining which specific ones I’d been to, as many of them blend into each other; I had to use some memories of oddly specific details to work out which ones I’d been to.

I’d say it’s more to do with my insatiable desire to count things and make lists, and after my recent trip to Yorkshire, service stations was another counting opportunity that crossed my mind, just like train stations and airports (both of which are things I’ve previously counted). Although I must admit that I did find it at least mildly interesting reading about different service stations, in the same way that I found it mildly interesting to read about different train stations and airports to work out those counts! I guess I do find transport infrastructure kind of interesting, even if I wouldn’t call it a “passion” per se…
 
The very nice ones near you Matt (Gloucester?) are run by the same group as the previously mentioned fantastic Tebay services.
Some may try to be better, but few have better views all round.
I'm an old git, I remember most motorway services being built, and I'm one of the very lucky ones who has been up the Forton Tower by the M6.
Yup, I'm that old.
 
I've not yet created my spreadsheet for UK service stations, but honourable mentions to Gloucester, Tebay, Oxford and Rugby.
 
I'm not counting Service Station creds and I'm not about to start, but I think I've probably been to the worst one on the network:

[drumroll...] Bridgwater

What a concrete dump. You can't even drive through and immediately leave without risking your paintwork on the vile concrete barriers.

If you can't hold it in until Taunton / Sedgemoor, better to wet yourself. Trust me.
 
rob666 said:
The very nice ones near you Matt (Gloucester?) are run by the same group as the previously mentioned fantastic Tebay services.
Some may try to be better, but few have better views all round.
I'm an old git, I remember most motorway services being built, and I'm one of the very lucky ones who has been up the Forton Tower by the M6.
Yup, I'm that old.
Click to expand...
I’ve never actually been to Gloucester services before. I don’t think I’ve ever travelled far enough along the M5 to encounter it.

Interestingly, I live relatively near to two apparent extremes of service station. Gloucester is supposed to be one of the best, but I also live quite near to Severn View (sometimes known as Aust) services on the M48, which is supposedly among the worst.

As it turns out, Severn View is actually my nearest service station, being only 7.2 miles from me in straight line distance and a 17 minute drive away… even Magor is 14 miles away in straight line distance and a 25 minute drive away. Gloucester is 17 miles away in straight line distance and a 44 minute drive away.

Of that triad of local service stations, I’ve never been to Gloucester or Severn View before; I’ve only ever been to Magor.
 
I know I’m pretty much alone in this view but I think Gloucester services are crap. Over priced and not that tasty, plus their grasp of what vegetarian and vegan means was woeful. Also on the shit list is Membury. Most visited is Reading. There is an almost Pavlovian reaction in the chimp to that sign now - it normally means a wee break on the way to wherever we’re going, and dinner time on the way home.
 
AstroDan said:
Christ.

Anyone been to Medway? There, they like it STRONG. The coffee, that is. She relocated from Strensham and upcharged folk by default.

Coffee please
You like it STRONG? (roll your R for full effect)
Umm, yes.
*adds extra shot*
That'll be £2875.50.

Road Chef's finest.
Click to expand...
This takes me back!
 
Alix said:
I know I’m pretty much alone in this view but I think Gloucester services are crap. Over priced and not that tasty, plus their grasp of what vegetarian and vegan means was woeful. Also on the shit list is Membury. Most visited is Reading. There is an almost Pavlovian reaction in the chimp to that sign now - it normally means a wee break on the way to wherever we’re going, and dinner time on the way home.
Click to expand...
I was actually going to say something similar - we popped into Gloucester yesterday evening after a long day out to grab something quick for dinner and the farm shop was completely useless - £9 for a portion of frozen veg curry and the same again for two seasoned chicken breasts, utterly ridiculous. We left without buying anything, wishing we'd stopped by an M&S instead.
 
Washington Birtley.

Gateway to the North.

What a joint.

The way it's sort of... hemmed in.
 
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