Trivia:

Concentrates on Local produce and styling

The only MSA with a Caravan Camping park

Owned by Westmorland Ltd- one of the smaller MSA's and firmly rooted in local business.

Temporarily renamed as Tebay Mountain Lodge during early 1990's

Praised by Egon Ronay when he surveyed Motorway Services in 2000 and gained 2 stars. One of only 5 MSA's to get this award.

When the restaurant at Tebay West was refurbished in 2000 it was briefly renamed as "The Howgill Restaurant" this was dropped after some customers thought that it was a full service (waiter/waitress) facility

History

Opened in 1972 with a small shop (where the Coffee Shop now is), a cafeteria seating only 60 people and a Shell filling station that comprised about 6 pumps and a wooden hut as a kiosk.

Tebay Mountain Lodge Motel opens in 1976 with 32 rooms (no restaurant facilities at the time)

In 1980, Tebay Caravan Park opened on the site to allow Caravans and Campers to pitch for an onvernight stay or longer. This is now the Tebay Park Touring & Static Caravan Site and is the only MSA with such facilities.

In the Early Eighties, The shop and cafe at Tebay West were extended slightly.
The motel became known as a Hotel with the opening of a small restaurant and conference facilities

When the restaurant at Tebay West was refurbished in 2000 it was briefly renamed as "The Howgill Restaurant" this was dropped after some customers thought that it was a full service (waiter/waitress) facility

1988 - Redevelopment of Tebay West. New forecourt and shop built (BP), new shop built alongside restaurant and restaurant extended to seat 300 people.

1996 - Coffee Shop opened

During the Mid 1990's food production for both Tebay Sites (+other Westmorland interests, such as the truckstop just off M6 J38) was centralised with a new kitchen built at Tebay East and a sandwich making department.

The hotel was extended to 53 bedrooms in 1997, and has now been awarded Upper 3 stars by both the AA and RAC, 4 crowns by the ETB and has an AA rosette for its food served in the Bretherdale Restaurant. The hotel also has larger conference facilities. To reflect the change the hotel was renamed The Westmorland Hotel.

In 1998 an office block was built and named Westmorland Place, to house all Head Office functions.

1999 - Further redevelopment of the restaurant with larger food servery area.

2000 - The petrol franchise at Tebay changed from BP to Texaco

2000 - When the restaurant at Tebay West was refurbished in 2000 it was briefly renamed as "The Howgill Restaurant" this was dropped after some customers thought that it was a full service (waiter/waitress) facility

2003 - New kitchen built at Tebay West (The cafe had extended several times since opening, but the kitchen remained the same size!)

2003 - Farm Shops opened at Tebay East & West

2004 - Farm Shops visited by Prince Charles

2004 - Featured on the BBC programme "Country File"

See also:
Tebay East
Westmorland Entry on the Operators page
J38 Truckstop page

www.westmorland.com
Tebay Services

Received votes so far and a sample of comments:

People who prefer this MSA	90
People happy to visit	10
People who avoid this MSA	32
Selection of comments received	What else can anyone say about Tebay, that hasn’t already been said? Quite simply, it’s the BEST services in the UK! Sometimes, somebody sits down and gets something right! Sometimes a place has a certain â that can't be explained. I don’t know - 2007-09-19 Always go here if I pass it. Excellent farmshop, friendly staff, even had a half decent curry there. - 2005-07-24 Really fresh and clean. Restaurant is echoey and lacks personality. great for kids though they love the water feature! - 2005-09-09 Wonderful place- a mecca for foodies. My favourite MSA by far, and the only one we could really hold up with pride to compare with the French facilities. - 2005-12-02 Beautiful surroundings - the building itself tastfully clad in a combination of Granite walls and Pine ceilings - a very warm and welcoming feel to this Service area - which I always come back too. - 2006-01-13 I stayed there with my family for a weekend break once - great for visiting Manchester and the Wirral, and great breakfasts. - 2006-02-01 Very clean and friendly the best service station I have ever stopped at always use it now when travelling on M6 - 2006-06-19 Who decided this log cabin should be an MSA? - 2006-07-08 good food good shop - 2006-08-19 Fantastic local food, well cooked and a great farm shop, an ENJOYABLE stop. - 2006-09-22 This is the best motorway services I have stopped at with Britain. Lovely scenery and atmosphere, but food quite expensive. When compared to other services, its worth it just to have a break and walk around. - 2006-11-11 Great memories of childhood holidays. I seem to remember that the restaurant was upstairs on the southbound side, with radio control boats in a pool outside. Anyone else remember these? - 2006-11-13 I love tebay my girlfriend works there it is a brilliant place to visit to see her!!!!! - 2007-03-18 One of the most beautiful MSAs ive ever been too - 2007-04-28 Nice hotel very clean with friendly staff. The same goes for the restaurant. Superb - 2007-07-10 This is certainly the best MSA Ive encountered in the UK. Its friendly, clean, and the food is excellent. The Farmers market shop is worth travelling for alone. - 2007-09-16 Very clean and efficient; happy to revisit. love the open eating area and choice of food - 2007-12-31 Brilliant Site, Brilliant Staff, Brilliant People 10 out of 10 - 2008-05-16 I vist this msa every weakend during summer months have caravan on attached park the farm shop in superb my only main fault are the toilets seat missing last summer and very slow flushig due to water supply - 2008-12-12 probably the best and most scenic in England. Food hall is amazing. - 2008-12-16 Consistantly the best MSA to visit in the UK - 2009-03-29 clean, friendly staff, excellent facilities for families, locally produced food. - 2009-04-12 First visited this facility in 1976, been back at least 4 other time, love it. - 2011-02-12 lovely setting good for a relaxing break - 2011-06-05 Just what you want. Decent facilities, excellent farm shop and plenty of opportunity to enjoy the views around. A proper break from the road! " 2007-12-31 I just love stopping at this service area or better still staying a night or two at the Cravan Site. It is such a beautiful area of Cumbria that I just never tire of - 2008-02-25 Just like Tebay East, has a great farm shop, great location and views. Lets you forget youre on a Motorway journey. - 2006-09-29 We made a special visit to this service station on a recent Lake District holiday. We think it should be included as a tourist attraction in Lakeland publicity info. The farm shop is par excellence! - 2007-01-05 Westmorland have an outstanding caravan park and the services are the best in the UK - 2007-06-16

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.

Information contributed by :
Carl Ryding