Membury

Membury
Welcome Break
33 more photos in the gallery
Road:	M4 between J14 and J15
Address:	Welcome Break M4 Services Membury Motorway Services Area Lambourn Hungerford Berkshire RG17 7TZ
Telephone number:	01488 674360
Signposted from the road?	As Starbucks/Waitrose(westbound) Starbucks/KFC (eastbound)
Opened:	1972
Previous operators:	Ross
Grid reference:	SU308760
Services type:	Two sites located between junctions, connected by a pedestrian footbridge.
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Well-landscaped if not slightly old-fashioned service area in the middle of Wiltshire, now furnished with the usual brands.

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Facilities

General: BT WiFi, Welcome Break Gaming, Traffic Information, Showers, Regus Express (eastbound only)
Restaurants: Burger King, Starbucks, Eat In, KFC
Shops: WHSmith (with Costa Express Krispy Kreme), Fone Bitz, Waitrose
Fuel: BP (with: Wild Bean Café LPG Ecotricity electric vehicle charging point)
Motel: Days Inn^{[book rooms]}

Parking Prices

First two hours free for all vehicles, after which cars must pay £10. Further information is not available, please update this if you know.

Prices can be paid in the shop and restaurant, with instructions in each car park. They are strictly enforced by ParkingEye.

Trivia

Membury is built on the site of the old RAF Membury airfield. Within it is a mural painted by David Fisher, who was recruited by Forte to paint one for most of their services.

The fuel forecourt is not owned by Welcome Break but is actually a BP corporate site, under the BP Connect brand, suggesting that Membury is one of the Highways Agency owned sites. The eastbound petrol station has an unusual layout whereby refuelling vehicles face what appears to be the wrong way. Not particularly remarkable, but slightly odd.

Both sides have Rear Access.

History

One of the abandoned buildings

Ross originally wanted the services to be a replica of their first site at Leicester Forest East, however they couldn't afford to manage the traffic on the M4 whilst the bridge was being built. Even so, remnants of the idea can still be seen: both sides have a restaurant on a second floor which is accessed on a staircase, with the option of eating outdoors on a terrace. Moving the restaurant upstairs creates a rare bit of space in the rest of the services.

The services have an extra building which used to be a Happy Eater, later a Little Chef and then a Red Hen. It closed with the demise of Red Hen, the westbound side is now a training centre, while the eastbound side is unchanged and appears to contain a lot of the original furniture. This building is now utilises the new Starbucks drive thru outlet.

A Starbucks drive thru also opened here on the eastbound side on the 8th August 2012, A second service station with a Starbucks drive thru for Welcome Break. The new drive thru outlet utilises the old Little Chef restaurant, away from all the main facilities. In May 2013, A Regus Express Meetings Room joined the disused part of the same building that houses the Starbucks.

Survey Results

In May 2012 and August 2011, Visit England rated the westbound services as 4 stars and the eastbound side as 3 stars.

In 2007, the westbound services won a four-star loo award. The eastbound side won a three-star loo award.

In 2006, the services won a four star loo award.

Also in 2006, Holiday Which? rated the services at 3/5.

Alternatives

With thanks to Alan Simpson for the information used on this page.