[Closed] Worst Motorway services

Yeah I must've lost ooh... 5€ not redeeming those things.

You mean Skiach services Garry?

Ballinluig on the A9 is good aswell.. Although I think the waiting staff may carry knifes incase you upset them. I always feel like I'm troubling them in there..

I reckon the M&S, Greggs and McD's In some has saved them. I just refuse to stop at some. I went go have a shower in Dartford (I think) and saw a wee jobbee floating in the undrained water.. I mean.. Really!

Who craps in the shower??? Swines charged me £28 to park overnight aswell! Never again!

I save them up. "Free" cake+coffee every so often.

Yep you do see people trying to post their coffee voucher back in the turnstile to exit 😕 Just walk thru! It even says it in 2 languages. Then spend it.

I guess the idea is you pay €0.70 for a pee, cash in the €0.50 voucher for a coffee, then you'll need to stop an hour down the road for another pee. Which is why I save them up until I have 5-6 vouchers to use in 1 go.

Spent a great week in Finland skiing over half term with the wife and kids, made the mistake of stopping off on the way home late Sunday night at some services north of Manchester. It was grim, litter, bad mannered foul mouthed people and shite food. Been thinking about going back to Finland ever since!

There is a fairly horrible one on the way south into London from the M1, not sure of the name.

The M5 is full of horrible ones.

Tebay is better than the other UK ones I've been to. Can't knock it, really.

There are some good and some ropey ones on t'continent.

In France, even an aire with nothing more than a petrol station and a toilet will often sell nice sandwiches.

Many German ones seem to have a very limited food choice.

My memory of the one on the Antwerp ring road is of loads of blokes (having tail-gated, swerved and barged their way down the motorway) getting out of cars and pissing in the car park. Not discretely against a bush, in the middle of car park.
-That summed up my experiences of driving across Flanders.

Russian ones were good. Locals just turn up with chicken in a hot box and set up table by the side of the road. Superb home cooked chicken meal for little more than free - far more edible than the MacShergar's franchise cack in UK services.

There'll be a tree somewhere in the next 50 miles for a slash 😉

Think there is a move to remove the restrictions placed on the companies that run the English (if not UK) services. They're not allowed to be destinations because of the need to keep the highways non-cluttered. Bit of a change from the first ones!

Particular low lights are:
Charnock Richard
Rugby
Bothwell
Hamilton
Bolton
Burton in Kendal
Birch
Leeming Bar
Most of the ones on the M6
Everything on the M25..

There are some good truck stops tho,

Wolverhampton
Ecclefechan
Dandy's in Flint
Lets eat cafe on A49
Lockerbie
And J38 on M6.

The Trucking Forcast 🙂

Yes indeed... I'm at Tebay tonight and confirm the Chilli is good, the scones are good and as always the Mini Eggs are good.. Also got 3G so I can peruse the Internet for bike related gubbins..

Intersting lesson for anyone in business! Have noticed just how many people still believe the Bolton services to be a dump. Granted they once were the Nr 1 dump in the UK but since being demolished and rebuilt they are pretty good - nice European feel to them IMHO... Just shows that spending the money is only half the battle - takes years to lose the old image.

I like Tebay - mainly because i love the pies in the deli - the 'Old Growler' is a particular favourite. I also sentimentally (though not sure why!) feel excited whenever we get to the Green Welly Stop at Tyndrum when going up to Scotland!

Keele +1. It's a hole. Had to stop there urgently once (after getting carried away with a bag of sugar-free sweets on my journey down the M6 but forgetting about their effects) and while on the throne in Keele I was nearly eaten alive by flying ants.

Last year we drove to Cardiff and stopped somewhere, can't remember exactly where, and it was as though we had been transported back to 1986.

The Trucking Forcast 🙂

Surely this is the Trucking Forecast?!

Last year we drove to Cardiff and stopped somewhere, can't remember exactly where, and it was as though we had been transported back to 1986.

1981miked, I didn't know Rugby had a 'services' unless you mean the truckstop on the A5 just North of the Radio Station?

Yeah that's what I meant mate. Truckstop is poor! The green welly is a great little stop over aswell.

I try and find a McD, Asda, Tesco or something that's a little bit off the route and go there.
Spent a lovely half hour hand feeding Starlings at Hemel Hempstead McDs once.

Bout time this architectural gem was reopened

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Agreed scuttler Forton / Lancaster is unique.

Think they use it as storage now because at one time, Boardmans Recovery used the Tower as their control centre when they had the big AA and RAC contracts

Didn't it have a moving floor or have I dreamt it ? Think they closed due to fire regs or some other H & S reason ?

Forton....what a gem. When I was a kid on caravaning holidays with my parents if we were in that neck of the woods always convinced them to go in pat.

Loved those services with the bridges too.

1970's....that seemed much better then.

Seems Bolton gets a lots of votes. My vote is Tibshelf on M1.

German ones are best IMO; decent sausages, hardcore adult literature, beer and tazers on sale!

Sounds like someone's in for a fun night with that lot.