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Your UK motorway service station count

Matt N

Matt N

CF Legend
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 didn't realize these things were worthy of having their own Wikipedia page.

Back in 2016, I came to Europe for the first time and started the trip in England. After landing at Heathrow, we drove straight to Windsor to have lunch (Sunday roast!) and visit the castle before heading up north to Stoke-on-Trent. I notoriously do not sleep well on planes, so I was absolutely exhausted by the time we hit the road north. Driving on the opposite side of the car/road kept me wired for a while, but that rush wore off after a little while on the M40. In desperate need of caffeine, we came across the Welcome Break in Warwick. It was a rather nice travel station, but what has always stuck with me was the Krispy Kreme selection. First, I didn't even realize Krispy Kreme existed in the UK. Second, why were there so many extravagant, delicious-looking flavors?? Why didn't we have Nutella or Biscoff donuts in the US!?

IMG_0360.JPG

That's all. That's my only visit. No donuts were consumed, but Red Bull was procured and we were on our merry way to Stoke.
 
Streuth, Matt. And I thought the 'Train Station Count' thread was bad enough. Dude, I'm nearly 50, been driving for, like, 30 years, how on earth am I supposed to remember all the motorway services I've been to in that time?
Well, for some reason I did click on your little wiki link there and scrolled through the list and I actually surprised myself at how easy it was to just go through 'em and with a fair bit of certainty mentally tick them off just from their name - yes, no, no, yes, no, yes, yes, yes etc etc... with only a handful of 'maybes' in the whole bunch. Most were easy - for example I popped into Charnock Richard services and Keele services only yesterday, and I often nip into the Telford one for a cheeky Double Whopper with Cheese as I live nearby, but with others it took me a moment to look up the location before I knew for sure.
Won't bother listing them all, but it was 38 definites, 2 I think so's, plus 4 or 5 'possibly's.
However, the more I think about it, the more service stations I keep picturing in my head that I've been to, but can't name them. What's that one on the M4 by Heathrow called? I know I've been there, but can't find it the list.
Or that one on the M5 down Gloucester way, the one with that lovely farm shop and restaurant?

Anyways, short answer is, probably about half of them.

( 🤷‍♂️ )
 
Howie said:
Streuth, Matt. And I thought the 'Train Station Count' thread was bad enough. Dude, I'm nearly 50, been driving for, like, 30 years, how on earth am I supposed to remember all the motorway services I've been to in that time?
Well, for some reason I did click on your little wiki link there and scrolled through the list and I actually surprised myself at how easy it was to just go through 'em and with a fair bit of certainty mentally tick them off just from their name - yes, no, no, yes, no, yes, yes, yes etc etc... with only a handful of 'maybes' in the whole bunch. Most were easy - for example I popped into Charnock Richard services and Keele services only yesterday, and I often nip into the Telford one for a cheeky Double Whopper with Cheese as I live nearby, but with others it took me a moment to look up the location before I knew for sure.
Won't bother listing them all, but it was 38 definites, 2 I think so's, plus 4 or 5 'possibly's.
However, the more I think about it, the more service stations I keep picturing in my head that I've been to, but can't name them. What's that one on the M4 by Heathrow called? I know I've been there, but can't find it the list.
Or that one on the M5 down Gloucester way, the one with that lovely farm shop and restaurant?

Anyways, short answer is, probably about half of them.

( 🤷‍♂️ )
Click to expand...
I just have an insatiable desire to count things and make lists, and visiting two previously unvisited service stations on my recent trip to Yorkshire inspired me to try and have a go at counting how many I’ve been to, out of curiosity!

Looking at the Wikipedia link actually made counting easier than I’d thought on the pure basis of the names. I also find that looking at the map helps. If you click on the article for each one, it should also indicate where it’s located.

Although having said that, my sister today reminded me of one that I’d forgotten… I think my secondary school may have stopped at Pont Abraham services on the way home from our school trip to Oakwood in 2016, as I vaguely remember it being an irregular-looking one with a hut-type building, and Pont Abraham would fit that description looking at the Wikipedia image.

I investigated Sarn Park services too, as that also looked similar from its Wikipedia image… it looked less similar in Google Street View, but annoyingly, it rang a bell, and I also think I may have been there at some point… so I think I can revise my total up to 15.

Service stations are definitely harder and more annoying to count than other things, what with how most of them blend into one…

With this in mind, my new list is:
  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. Pont Abraham (M4, Roadchef)
  11. Reading (M4, Moto)
  12. Sarn Park (M4, Welcome Break)
  13. Stafford (M6, Moto/Roadchef)
  14. Tamworth (M42, Moto)
  15. Trowell (M1, Moto)
 
Thanks to years and years of driving to lots of UK gigs and UK theme parks, there's not many I haven't done. And whilst I cannot be bothered to go through the full list, there's a few things which are easy to remember.

Tebay & Gloucester are the best in the UK, hands down.
The newer Extra services like Beaconsfield, Cobham and Leeds are decent.
Moto services range from "better than most" (Wetherby & Norton Canes) to f-ing horrendous.
Bridgwater (Moto) is a dump, so avoid it. Visit only if you forgot to go to the ones before, or you don't have a bottle you can use.
Severn View (Also Moto) should be avoided unless you're looking to see where Richie Edwards left his car.
Frankley services (Also Moto) looks like Birmingham in the 1960s, frankly.
Roadchef & Extra services have McDonalds if you're up early and want Hash Browns and a McMuffin.
If you miss Tebay going south, Killington Lake softens the blow. No farm shop/farm cafe, but it has a McDonalds.
The rest are fine.

To be honest, all the UK services (with the exception of Tebay & Gloucester) have nothing on the Disneyland of service areas, Buc-ees,

I'm gonna start a separate topic on it because it deserves one, and if anyone is going to Dollywood, there's a big new one open just off of I-40 at Sevierville.

buc-ees-sevierville-opening-social.jpg
 
Time for an update to the slightly strange counting thread I completely forgot I once made... on my recent trip to East Anglia, I managed to visit a new services on the M6 east of Birmingham (a whole stretch of motorway I'd never driven along before!) in the form of Rugby services!
  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. Pont Abraham (M4, Roadchef)
  11. Reading (M4, Moto)
  12. Rugby (M6, Moto)
  13. Sarn Park (M4, Welcome Break)
  14. Sedgemoor (M5, Welcome Break)
  15. Stafford (M6, Moto/Roadchef)
  16. Strensham (M5, Roadchef)
  17. Tamworth (M42, Moto)
  18. Trowell (M1, Moto)
It was actually very, very nice as service stations go, and definitely one of the nicest I've been to, which was what spurred me to bump the thread! It was all very new, clean and shiny, and I had a very nice Sausage, Bean and Cheese Melt from the Greggs inside!

I also visited Sedgemoor and Strensham on the M5 not that long ago, but they were clearly unremarkable enough that I didn't feel the need to update this thread...
 
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No idea what my count is. But my most visited is definitely Warwick as it's the closest to halfway between where I am in the north and London. 😂
 
As if this thread exists... Absolute nerds!!!

I'm going to stick my neck out and say I've visited all of them in England, and most in the UK. I spent a lot of my youth on the road, travelling, to different gigs / performances all over the country (and abroad.) Like lorry drivers, coach drivers have stringent rest break requirements, so we spent a lot of time in service stations. Travelling for hobbies, such as theme parks, gigs and festivals since, has also helped.

I'm not going to rank them though, other than to say one of my favourite ones is one you've not visited @Matt N ! Presumably because it's on your doorstep, so there's no need. Gloucester Services is lovely, and entirely different to most others. No big fast food names here, just good honest traditional hearty food.

However, my absolute favourites are not on Motorways, they're the old timey farm shops and truck stops in counties like Lincolnshire and Norfolk. A couple that spring to mind are the Famous Farmshop along the A17 near Holbeach and Cherry Tree Cafe, on the A158 just East of Lincoln (before it became a garden centre, when the cafe part was still in the main house! I've not been since it became a garden centre.)

@Indy My most visited service station is Tibshelf on the M1 sadly. Many years ago we ran a pub in Alfreton not too far away, this was a time when the only places that stocked Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the North and Midlands were motorway services. Long before Tesco and others caught on, and around the time Krispy Kreme first started opening stores in big cities outside of London, like Manchester and Leeds. Whilst I'm not a huge fan, Cara was obsessed with them back then, so I'd regularly drive the 10 minutes to go and get her some.

Now we're very close to Trowel services, and for some reason a lot of the companies we work with like to arrange meetings or presentations there.

EDIT: Oh, and +1 for Auto Shenanigans, absolutely love that channel. Should have guessed that of his subscribers, half would be members here. 😂 😂 😂
 
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I've had a very tedious weekend following my football team.

Among the highlights was stopping at both Michaelwood services.
 
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