Tebay Services

Tebay Services are motorway service stations on the M6 motorway at Orton in the Eden district of Cumbria, England. The northbound opened in 1972 and the southbound in 1993. They are known for their family-run business which eschews the typical facilities at British motorway services for a farm shop and buildings in keeping with the local environment.

Tebay Services
Tebay Services (Cumbria)
Information
CountyCumbria
RoadM6
Coordinates:54.45°N 2.608°W / 54.45; -2.608
OperatorWestmorland Motorway Services Ltd
Date opened1972 (northbound)
1993 (southbound)[1]

Location

The services are between junctions 38 and 39 on the ascent from the Lune Valley to Shap summit. As the north and southbound carriageways diverge at this point, the two service areas are not actually adjacent to each other but a couple of hundred metres apart.[2]

History

Tebay West Services, which serves the northbound carriageway, opened in 1972, two years after the M6 section between Lancaster and Penrith was completed.[3][4] The M6 here passes through an environmentally sensitive area, and the services were sited in this location to fit in with the surrounding local area and provide a view away from the motorway. A corresponding southbound services, Killington Lake Services, was constructed at the same time.[5]

Tebay East was opened in 1993, serving southbound traffic.[3] Both are operated by an independent family-owned company, Westmorland Motorway Services, rather than a national chain.[6] The same company runs Truckstop Services at junction 38, which opened in 1986 and caters for HGV and long-distance coaches,[3] and Gloucester Services between junctions 11a and 12 of the M5 in Gloucestershire, which was built into the side of a hill and covered with grass to reduce its visual impact.[6]

Facilities

Tebay Services are in open countryside surrounded by trees, small lakes and panoramas of the Cumbrian landscape, and has its own duck pond.[7] Westmorland shun typical motorway service food outlets. Instead, both Tebay outlets have award-winning farm shops, which sell local meat and other food, and insist on using local suppliers.[6][8] The services have been praised as being the best in the country.[9] In 2003, Westmorland won Best Local Retailer in BBC Radio 4's Food and Farming Awards, and in 2006 they were awarded Best Motorway Services in Britain by Which?.[10] The farm shops, which sell locally sourced produce, were officially opened by Prince Charles in 2004.[3]

In addition, the northbound service area has a caravan park and a hotel. This site also serves as the head office for Westmorland Motorway Services.[3]

Testimonials

Comedian Gary Delaney has described Tebay Services as "...the Daniel Kitson of services", a reference to comedian Daniel Kitson's reputation as an accomplished comedic writer and performer who rarely appears in the media and therefore relies greatly on word of mouth.[11]

References
  1. Motorway Services Trivia – Chronology – Accessed 21 January 2009
  2. "Tebay Services". Google Maps. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  3. "Tebay Services". Visit Cumbria. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  4. "M6 Through Westmorland J35 to J40 – Dates". The Motorway Archive. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  5. "M6 Through Westmorland J35 to J40". The Motorway Archive. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  6. "Family-owned motorway services profit by shunning burgers". Financial Times. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  7. ""Tebay services on the M6 near Penrith was judged the best"". The Times. 18 November 2006. p. 17. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  8. "Lune Gorge". Motorway Archive. 6 March 2020.
  9. "The M6 services where all the jams are home made". The Daily Telegraph. 7 March 2006. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  10. "Awards". Tebay Services. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  11. "Episode 43 – Fake Excuses, McCartney News & Some Special Toilets from Elis James and John Robins on Radio X Podcast". podbay.
Next southbound:
Killington Lake		 Motorway service stations on the
M6 motorway		 Next northbound:
Southwaite
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