Trivia:
To access it, you need to be using a Toll Road.
Is a one site services, eg. traffic heading in both directions uses the same building, and it would be possible to do a u-turn and head back the other way if you wanted. You'll still pay a toll though!

Has a conference centre, and a fantastic water feature outside.

Offers table service after 6pm, almost a return to the early days of Service areas when Waitress service was the norm.

Dining takes place in a large open plan and airy seating area, after you have chosen what you wish to eat. The On Route Restaurant will cook your food in front of you. Costa was having difficulty with new staff when I visited, causing a bit of a delay whilst they tried to train up new staff, and serving slopped coffee- although this was after 3 attempts- they couldn't master the nack of getting the coffee out of the machine without it going everywhere, so in the end gave up and appologised.

It was surprisingly busy- many people wonder why you would pay to go on the toll to save time then stop, but for some, that extra time means more time spent having a break, and its one of the nicest places to stop. However, the lavatories, despite the full time attendant looked like they had seen 3 years traffic, not 6 months.

Thanks
Ross Bowman for these nicer pictures

Received votes so far and a sample of comments:

People who prefer this MSA	22
People happy to visit	8
People who avoid this MSA	13
Selection of comments received	HAS HAD A TOILET EXTENSION AND NEW SHOP ADDED. A LOT BETTER THAN BEFORE. HAD A GOOD ROAST HERE! - 2005-09-09 RoadChef need a gold star. My wife wont stop at anything other than a RoadChef. This one is utterly F.A.B. - 2005-11-08 Was about to purchase a sandwich and portion of chips for just Â£3, but a friendly attendant pointed out a special deal that would let me get it for Â£1.99, very impressed! - 2006-01-23 Sometimes drive to it for a snack on summer evening drives rather than motorway stop off. Very pleasant atmosphere. - 2006-03-12 Architecture wise, it is unbeatable. Looks so distinctive, really should be looked after more though. - 2006-03-24 The missus raves about the M&S at this site - 2007-02-16 Brilliantly sited just a mile before the westbound toll plaza- so handy for gettting change or cash. A nice open, airy building too, not cramped and crowded like many service stations. - 2005-11-01 Favourite service station by a mile - easily beats the over-rated Tebay - 2008-05-23

This is a very old site, and we used to have a voting/comment system here, but for now it is turned off, sorry. Please also note the comments above are very old too and won't necessarily reflect the current state of the site and reflect the opinion of a visitor to the website, not the view of the website operator.