What is the greatest service station?

[BigMoaner]

Best one in the UK?

Thanks.

 

[JimW]

Not actually been since the revamp but the one by Gloucester got a makeover and was apparently getting people making special trips to it. Same company as ran a lauded one in Cumbria, maybe Tebay but might have that wrong.

 

[killer b]

Yeah, its Gloucester

 

[killer b]

Tebay is good, but its a lot older than Gloucester and not as well designed architecturally.

 

[Teaboy]

Any of the really old ones on the m1 or m6, especially those that have a bridge between the two sides. They're all good.

 

[strung out]

Yeah, I know a few people who plan a special trip in December to buy their Christmas cheese at Gloucester services (from Bristol).

 

[JimW]

Of course other reason not been is it's only one junction up from home.

 

[planetgeli]

Tebay but it's always packed in the summer.

Leigh Delamere because it's halfway to London for me. And because everyone likes saying 'Leigh Delamere'.

 

[Poot]

Always Gloucester.

 

[killer b]

I'm a big fan of Forton for the building (I have an enamel badge the Modernist Society made to commemorate it), but its pretty run down and has poor amenities.

 

[Raheem]

Service stations are supposed to be shit. Not sure why. Probably to make the rest of life seem not so bad. What's the point in a good one?

 

[dessiato]

My local one does 95 unleaded for 1,20€ a litre. It has a nice little cafe which serves good snacks and coffee. It has Cruzcampo but not everything can be good.

I like Spanish petrol stations, they're so much better the UK ones.

 

[killer b]

Service stations are supposed to be shit. Not sure why. Probably to make the rest of life seem not so bad. What's the point in a good one?

A stop off in Gloucester on the way to the west Country is a pure joy, honestly. Where in most service stations people look tired and miserable as they trudge into the services to pay a fiver for a cup of shit coffee and a limp sausage roll, at Gloucester they skip merrily in with smiles on their faces to browse the sourdough loaves and unpasteurised British cheeses.

 

[JimW]

A stop off in Gloucester on the way to the west Country is a pure joy, honestly. Where in most service stations people look tired and miserable as they trudge into the services to pay a fiver for a cup of shit coffee and a limp sausage roll, at Gloucester they skip merrily in with smiles on their faces to browse the sourdough loaves and unpasteurised British cheeses.

Do they playfully roll a cheese down the verge, get with the local vibe?

 

[Saul Goodman]

Watford Gap, obvs. One of the oldest landmarks to remind the good people of The North that they're now entering (or safely leaving) the badlands.

 

[Poot]

Service stations are supposed to be shit. Not sure why. Probably to make the rest of life seem not so bad. What's the point in a good one?

If you're going somewhere you don't want to go, you might as well enjoy the pasty and the piss on the way there...

 

[MickiQ]

Tebay,Since it's family owned so much of its charm comes from the fact that it isn't part of a cookie cutter chain like the rest. The food is excellent and the farm shop which sells local produce is worth a visit. They have also a patisserie that is so good I'm not totally convinced they are not mixing crack in with the flour. It's one disadvantage is where it is but we always make sure to stop there if we've been to the Lake District or Scotland especially on the way back.
The rest of them well usually I just stop if I need a pee or am gasping for a coffee.

 

[mauvais]

Tebay means I'm going somewhere good or coming back from the same.

None of them are outright good though because they're all permanently filled with zombies that have precisely zero situational awareness.

 

[planetgeli]

Ease of access plays a big part for me.

Which is why you should never go to Chieveley. Or is it Membury? Possibly both. Around and around about 3 miles off the motorway once you finally get there.

 

[souljacker]

The answer is Tebay although I rarely use the M5 so never been to Gloucester. Of the big commercial ones, I quite like Warwick on the M40 or Cobham on the M25.

 

[souljacker]

Ease of access plays a big part for me.

Which is why you should never go to Chieveley. Or is it Membury? Possibly both. Around and around about 3 miles off the motorway once you finally get there.

Definitely agree with this. Taunton Deane on the M5 is shit for this as is Donnington on the M1 which seems to add about an hour to your journey time just for a piss.

 

[BigMoaner]

Pease pottage is good.

 

[BigMoaner]

Watford Gap is a load of bollocks.

 

[JimW]

Pease pottage is good.

That brought back the old rhyme about it hot, cold and in the pot nine days old. Not thought about that for about fifty years.

 

[neonwilderness]

I haven’t been to Gloucester to compare, but Tebay is decent. Southbound is the better side, there’s an un-signposted road that links the two if you’re travelling north.

Apparently they also run Cairn Lodge on the M74 now. That was a complete dump when I stopped there a few years ago, so it’ll be interesting to see how much they’ve changed it next time I’m driving that way to Scotland.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

They are all gash and in the interwebz days you should be ashamed at getting mugged off at the places when you can easily find much cheaper fuel and better everything else within a five minute drive of a junction. Unless you love fruit machines and massage chairs, of course.

 

[BigMoaner]

gloucester vs watford gap

 

[BigMoaner]

They are all gash and in the interwebz days you should be ashamed at getting mugged off at the places when you can easily find much cheaper fuel and better everything else within a five minute drive of a junction. Unless you love fruit machines and massage chairs, of course.

the wh smith's prices are abuse.

 

[planetgeli]

They are all gash and in the interwebz days you should be ashamed at getting mugged off at the places when you can easily find much cheaper fuel and better everything else within a five minute drive of a junction. Unless you love fruit machines and massage chairs, of course.

People buy fuel at them?? I thought the pumps were just for show?

 

[neonwilderness]

They are all gash and in the interwebz days you should be ashamed at getting mugged off at the places when you can easily find much cheaper fuel and better everything else within a five minute drive of a junction. Unless you love fruit machines and massage chairs, of course.

I’ve never bought fuel at Tebay, and their scotch eggs take some beating