| Tebay Services | |
|---|---|
 View of East service station and car park | |
.svg)  Tebay Services Location on the UK motorway network Show map of UK motorways | |
| Information | |
| County | Cumbria |
| Road | M6 |
| Coordinates: | 54°27′00″N2°36′29″W / 54.45°N 2.608°W /54.45; -2.608 |
| Operator | Westmorland Ltd |
| Website | www |
| Northbound services | |
| Date opened | June 1972[citation needed] |
| Southbound services | |
| Date opened | 1993[citation needed] |
Tebay Services aremotorway service stations on theM6 motorway in theWestmorland and Furness district ofCumbria, England. The northbound opened in 1972 and the southbound in 1993. They are run byWestmorland Motorway Services, a family-run business which eschews the typical facilities at British motorway services for a farm shop and buildings in keeping with the local environment.
The services are betweenjunctions 38 and 39, on the ascent from theLune Valley toShap 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.[1] The services are a mile north of junction 38, which is adjacent to the village ofTebay, although the services are in the civil parish ofOrton.
Tebay West Services, which serves the northbound carriageway, was opened in June 1972 byPeter Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester, two years after the M6 section betweenLancaster andPenrith was completed.[2][3]
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, opening the previous month.[citation needed]
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.[4] The same company runs Truckstop Services at junction 38 (just off the B6260 at Old Tebay), which opened in 1986 and caters forHGV and long-distancecoaches,[3] andGloucester Services between junctions 11a and 12 of theM5 inGloucestershire, which was built into the side of a hill and covered with grass to reduce its visual impact.[4]
Tebay Services are in open countryside surrounded by trees, small lakes andpanoramas of theCumbrian landscape, and has its ownduck pond.[5] Westmorland shun typical motorway service food outlets. Instead, both Tebay outlets have award-winningfarm shops, which sell local meat and other food, and insist on using local suppliers.[4] The services have been praised as being the best in the country.[6] In 2003, Westmorland won Best Local Retailer inBBC Radio 4's Food and Farming Awards, and in 2006 they were awarded Best Motorway Services in Britain byWhich?.[7] The farm shops, which sell locally sourced produce, were officially opened byPrince Charles in 2004.[3]
In addition, the northbound service area has acaravan park and a hotel. This site formerly served as the head office for Westmorland Motorway Services.[3]
ComedianGary Delaney has described Tebay Services as "...theDaniel 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.[8]
Appearing onTop Gear: Extra Gear, comedianJohn Robins named Tebay northbound and southbound as two of his top three favourite motorway service stations.[9]
Fellow comedianFrank Skinner proclaimed on hisAbsolute Radio show that “if there is a road to heaven, Tebay Services would be the service station on that road”.
| Next southbound: Killington Lake | Motorway service stations on the M6 motorway | Next northbound: Southwaite |
