Lancaster

Lancaster
Moto
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Road:	M6 between J32 and J33
Address:	Granada Lancaster Forton Motorway Service Area M6 Bay Horse Lancaster Lancashire LA2 9DU
Telephone number:	01524 791775
Signposted from the road?	As Burger King/Costa/M&S
Opened:	1965
Previous operators:	Rank, Pavilion, Granada
Previous names:	Forton, Lancaster (Forton)
Grid reference:	SD502520
Services type:	Two sites located between junctions, connected by an internal bridge.
Visit Lancaster Northbound/Moto's official website Visit Lancaster Southbound/Moto's official website Forton Services Website Facebook Page

Quite possibly the most iconic service station of all, Lancaster is famous for its large tower sticking out of the northbound building (see trivia). Today, Lancaster has been moved around quite a bit and the toilets are now upstairs. The tower is closed to the public.

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Facilities

General: Local Information, Children's Play Area, Showers, Wi-Fi
Restaurants: Eat & Drink Co., Burger King, Costa Coffee
Shops: WH Smith, Marks and Spencer Simply Food, Fonebitz
Fuel: BP with pumps for Unleaded, Ultimate Unleaded, Diesel, Ultimate Diesel, LPG and AdBlue
Motel: Travelodge^{[book rooms]}

Parking Prices

First two hours free for all vehicles, after which cars must pay £8 and HGVs £13, or £15 to include a £6 food voucher.

Prices can be paid through the phone, with instructions in each car park. They are strictly enforced by CP Plus.

Trivia

Lancaster was opened in 1965 by Rank under the name 'Forton'. When Granada eventually grasped hold of the services, they renamed it to 'Lancaster' (along with other name changes such as Birch becoming 'Manchester North'). Unusually, Granada later changed this to 'Lancaster (Forton)' - it's not clear whether dropping the name Forton resulted in a drop of trade or just upset a few of the services' fans. This name stuck around for about a decade, but Moto are now slowly dropping the 'Forton' part leaving just 'Lancaster'.

The tower is called 'The Pennine Tower', and when it opened it had a restaurant with a panoramic view. However, the tower fell short of the Health and Safety regulations regarding emergency exits, so it had to be closed. It's now only used for staff training and offices, but it's still a prominent local landmark.

The tower is unique to the services, but Rank built slightly smaller versions at other services of theirs such as Hilton Park, which has suffered exactly the same fate. People disagree on whether the building is listed or not.

A 2008 exhibition in Lancaster celebrating 50 years of the M6 included a replica of the restaurant inside the Pennine Tower as it would be if it were still trading today.

In early 2007, a Marks and Spencers store opened here, replacing the Ladbrokes and Little Chef. The services used to be listed by the Highways Agency as an "approved truckstop", but this is no longer the case.

For many years the name 'Forton services' was used on all example diagrams of road signs, including drawings of non-motorway signs.

Survey Results

In 2008 and again in 2009 the services won a five star loo award - one of few Motos to take part in the event

In 2006 the services won a four star loo award.

Also in 2006, Holiday Which? rated the services at 4/5.

Alternatives

Comments and Reviews

Showing the most recent responses only: for the full thread and the ability to edit your own posts, you need to view the topic in the forums.
Author: Message: RegularM6Traveller This place must've cleaned up its act cos it's always spotless when I call in. I'm up and down that top end of the M6 every few days and the staff are very friendly and smiley! Yeah you pay over the odds on the motorway...but what do some people expect. 10 out of 10 to the people who work at these places- cos there must be some right ignorant pigs go in! WH Smiths, M&S, Burger King, Costa Coffee and Fone Bitz, clean loos. Does for me. I've loved calling here since a kid- that tower is an icon such a shame its closed down. Posted: 11 Aug 2010, 14:32 Anonymous how about something useful on this site like fuel prices or are they here and just so well hidden i cant see them Posted: 09 Aug 2010, 02:35 grippa couldnt agree more - the bird in smiths was ignorant and rude - awful place - Posted: 21 Oct 2009, 14:47 Anon This place is a dump! There are rats infested everywhere, and I saw the restaurant, cook sausages in the same deep fat fryer as the chips. I know this is illegal, because they need to be separate for vegetarians. The staff are rude and foul mouthed, and I will never step foot in that overpriced, disgusting hell hole, ever again! Posted: 28 Mar 2009, 13:34 Johnny I'm afraid it's complete rubbish, but it's a nice thought! Posted: 13 Mar 2009, 15:34 Anonymous [I have a friend who says that at one time the resturant used to revolve inside like Piz Gloria in Switzerland where the famous James Bond was filmed"on her Majesty's Secret Service.Is this just folklore or an Urban Myth?? Marcus Posted: 12 Mar 2009, 22:44 Anonymous I tried today to sneak into the tower but all service doors were locked and the lift buttons would only respond for floors G and 1 - buttons 2 and 3 and U and D had no response. Gotta love those weird pentagon-shaped lifts anyway! Forton is so weird and wonderful Posted: 17 Aug 2008, 23:48 Tom We stopped there at approx 02.30 on 26th July having driven from Aberdeen with a caravan. On entering, the woman who was on duty was seated at a table eating and announced "We are closed as I'm eating. If it's coffee you want there's a machine over there". Needless to say we didn't stay and drove to the next service area. I will never use Moto Lancaster again as it appears that they have unpredicatable opening hours and are not customer service driven. I have reported this to Moto via their website but no reply has been forthcoming other than a computer generated acknowledgement. Posted: 16 Aug 2007, 09:19 Admin Post your comments and reviews for Lancaster here, or you can return to Lancaster. Posted: 08 Oct 2005, 12:13
Showing the most recent responses only: for the full thread and the ability to edit your own posts, you need to view the topic in the forums.

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With thanks to the user 'fonebitzuk' for the information used on this page.