| Happendon | |
| Cairn Lodge | |
 | |
| Road: | M74 at J11 and J12 (also accessible to traffic on the A70 and the B7078) |
| Address: | Cairn Lodge Douglas Lanark Lanarkshire ML11 0RJ |
| Telephone number: | 01555 851880 |
| Signposted from the road? | Yes |
| Opened: | 1993 |
| Grid reference: | NS852336 |
| Services type: | Single site located at a junction. |
Facebook Page | |
Cairn Lodge is a small and very quiet services area in the middle of nowhere on the B7078, parallel to the M74 between J11 and J12. Its facilities are meant to resemble Scotland and the local area, and it was recently declared the cheapest service station.
Contents |
Facilities
General: Parking, Toilets, Picnic Tables
Restaurants: Restaurant
Shops: Retail Store, Clothes Shop
Fuel: Shell (with: Costa Express)
Motel: none
Parking Prices
First two hours free for all vehicles. Further information is not available, please update this if you know.
Trivia
Happendon is Cairn Lodge's only service area, and it was the first on this section of the M74 when it opened in the early '90s. It was built by a couple who invested £500,000 into the site by selling their businesses and home and moving into a caravan on the site, even though they initially lost and had to fight for another two years before they could get confirmation that the services would be signed. It took another £5m to get the services up and running. They had looked at building other services in England.
Today it's overshadowed by Welcome Break and RoadChef's facilities either side of it, so it's very quiet and plans to give it a hotel and extended petrol station are now long gone. In some ways the quietness has helped it remain quaint. When it opened, they said they ran the services more like a luxury hotel.
The services are one of only two in Scotland which are not marked as a recommended truckstop. However, there is an extra lorry park next to the main services. There is also a small castle to the back of the services(!)
The petrol station was originally Gulf.
Survey Results
In 2009 Which? Motoring deemed the services as being the cheapest, with five 'popular' snacks costing £7. Not quite a bargain, but not bad all the same.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| Hamilton (M74 northbound, 13 miles) Bothwell (M74 southbound, 14 miles) | Services on the M74 | Abington (7 miles) |
With thanks to Jonathan Elton for the information used on this page.