Killington Lake

Killington Lake
Roadchef
27 more photos in the gallery
Road:	M6 southbound between J36 and J37
Address:	Road Chef Motorways Ltd M6 Killington Kendal Cumbria LA8 0NW
Telephone number:	01539 620739
Signposted from the road?	Yes
Opened:	1972
Previous operators:	BP
Grid reference:	SD587911
Services type:	Single site located between junctions on one side of the motorway.
Visit Killington Lake/Roadchef's official website Facebook Page

A popular service area on the M6 southbound in the Lake District, Killington is best known for its associations with the Killington Reservoir. Northbound traffic should use Moto's Burton-in-Kendal.

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Facilities

General: BT WiFi, Jackpot £500, Meeting Room, Picnic Area, Traffic Information
Restaurants: Restbite, The Burger Company, Costa
Shops: WHSmith (with Costa Express)
Fuel: BP (with: Wild Bean Café)
Motel: Days Inn^{[book rooms]}

Parking Prices

First two hours free for all vehicles, after which cars must pay £10 and HGVs, caravans and coaches £17, or £19 to include a £10 food voucher.

Prices can be paid using the pay and display machines in each parking area or in the shop or restaurant. The location code is 5276.

The fees are strictly enforced by CP Plus.

Trivia

The view from the back of the services.

Killington is Roadchef's oldest site, having opened in 1972, not long after this bit of the M6 itself opened. It's built on a thin bit of land between the motorway and the reservoir (which explains why it's southbound only). It's doubtful you'd get planning permission for something like this these days.

The services are separated from the motorway by a man-made cutting, the land for which presumably came from the reservoir. They are actually owned by BP, who lease the site out to Roadchef.

To take advantage of the views the services offer, it became one of the first sites where the amenity building was built as far away from the motorway as possible - something that was later adopted as standard practice. This is another reason why the services are southbound only - at the time, all dual-sided services were built right up against the motorway.

In an 1984 atlas, Killington Lake is the only service area marked for providing "limited catering facilities". This has since changed and the services now provide full catering facilities. There were also vague plans to add a yachting yard to the reservoir which could be accessed via the services.

The tourist information centre was converted from a workshop in 1997.

BP operate the filling station here.

Survey Results

In May 2012, it had slipped down to 2 stars in Visit England's ratings.

In August 2011 the services were rated as 3 stars by Visit England, who were impressed by the landscaping.

In 2006, Holiday Which? gave the services a 3/5, which is odd considering how much praise they get.

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