Take the next exit for a proper pitstop
By Kate Simon
One of my favourite assignments for the Independent on Sunday was to shadow a motorway services inspector back in 2012.
Howard Loxley, one of a team of six inspectors roaming the nation’s service areas at the time for a scheme run by VisitEngland, had a detailed set of tick boxes that ranged from car park bay markings to the cleanliness of restaurant chairs and whether queues for shops exceeded a desired four-minute maximum. Most important, Howard told me, was a clearly signed route to the toilet – the main reason we call at these places, after all.
That year, Tebay Services southbound, between junctions 39 and 38 of the M6 in Cumbria, became the first to win the full five stars. It was founded in 1972 on a farm run by the Westmorland family, who have gone on to develop two more service stations, at Gloucester (M5 J11A-12), and Cairn Lodge (M74 J11-12). They maintain the gold standard for service station design, ambience, facilities and, Westmorland’s guiding principle, serving freshly-cooked, locally-sourced food.
In fact, Westmorland’s desire to feed us better nearly fell foul of a government rule imposed in 1980, which deemed that a service station should only provide basic facilities and not be regarded as a ‘destination in its own right’ (a phrase that has been elevated to literary status by the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, as the title of a collection, The Motorway Service Station as a Destination in its Own Right).
An ambition to open services at Gloucester that would provide quality local food was considered by the Highways Agency to be at risk of motivating visits by drivers who were not weary nor been caught short but had gone there on purpose. Fortunately, the rule changed in 2013 just before Gloucester services opened.
Still, many of us would rather take a small detour from the motorway given half the chance. And there are plenty of diversions to take and resources to consult to identify them. JustoffJunction is a rather rudimentary website dedicated to recommending pubs, garden centres, play areas and more. It focuses on individual junctions but expect chain hotels and restaurants as uninviting as many motorway services among the ideas.
In contrast, The Extra Mile, a website and book from the respected guidebook publisher Sawdays, is more inspiring, pointing the way to pubs, independent cafes and farm shops located off both motorways and A roads. But it is a bit picky, so the suggestions are sparse in places.
The Off Motorway website provides a vegetarian guide to finding decent food on your travels along Britain’s main arteries. There are also suggestions for picnic spots – and recipes, too. Near The Motorways by Hugh Cantile (Cheviot Books) is now on its 12th edition, featuring 200 hand-picked pubs, hotels restaurants, cafes and petrol stations no more than five minutes’ distant, with maps and sat nav codes.
Driving with Dogs suggests walks close to motorways and A roads, including some beaches. Though you’ll have to subscribe to view all the content. Motorway Walks for Drivers and Dogs (Veloce) does the same job in paperback format.
Of course, making a stop close to a motorway doesn’t just have to be about refreshments or stretching legs – whether you have two or four. It’s possible to take a break and sight-see, too. For example, consider the Elizabethan prodigy house Hardwick Hall, near the M1 in Derbyshire (J29), 17th Century Tredegar House and its lovely gardens off the M4 in Wales (J28), and the cathedral at Worcester, close to the M5 (J7).
The Yorkshire Sculpture Park is just a mile from the M1 (J38) and you don’t have to whizz by Antony Gormley’s magnificent Angel of the North (pictured) on the A1 if you get off at junction 66 for a closer look. You can meet the Barbary macaques at Trentham Monkey Forest, two miles from junction 15 of the M6. And for a peaceful alternative to the thrum of the motor car, watch the narrowboats climb Hatton Locks, a staircase of 21 locks in Warwickshire, by exiting at junction 15 of the M40.
The possibilities of a break from the monotony of the motorway are almost endless. They might even silence the familiar chorus from the back seat – “Are we there yet?”.
Phil’s Beer Notes
Tebay Service Station itself has a pretty good selection of craft beers on the shelves, if you need a takeaway. The 15th Century Wooden Walls of Old England (M1 J15) is a village local with a beer garden serving, among other cask beers, Phipps ales from nearby Northampton.
The Puriton Inn (M5 J23) specialises in brews from Devon and Somerset and hosts an annual beer festival in September. Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery (M6 J36) has a tap room boasting a dozen handpulls and eight keg taps, plus 60 craft beers from around the world.
If you have time for a 15-minute detour the 13th Century Royal Standard of England (M40 J2) is certainly worth a visit – it was Terry Pratchett's local and you might recognise its medieval architecture from the film Hot Fuzz and various episodes of Midsomer Murders. Meanwhile, the only brewery named after a motorway junction, Sheffield’s Exit 33 Brewing, is sadly currently mothballed.
Photo © NewcastleGateshead Initiative