| Rivington | |
| Euro Garages | |
 | |
| Road: | M61 between J6 and J8 (there is no J7) |
| Address: | Euro Garages Anderton Motorway Services Area M61 Horwich Bolton Lancashire BL6 5UZ |
| Telephone number: | 01204 669962 (northbound) 01204 460482 (southbound) |
| Signposted from the road? | Yes |
| Opened: | 1971 (rebuilt in 2011) |
| Previous operators: | Kenning Motor Group, Rank, Pavilion, First |
| Previous names: | Rivington, Anderton, Bolton West |
| Grid reference: | SD621116 |
| Services type: | Two sites located between junctions, connected by a pedestrian footbridge. |
| Euro Garages's official website Facebook Page | |
A whole new service area sitting on the site of Bolton West, formerly one of the worst-ranked services around. The new facilities are currently being phased in.
Contents |
Facilities
General: Games Arcade, Free Wi-Fi, Faith Room, Picnic Area
Restaurants: Burger King, Subway, Starbucks
Shops: Spar (with: Coffee Nation)
Fuel: BP (with: Coffee Nation)
Motel: Rivington Lodge (southbound only)
Parking Prices
First two hours free for all vehicles. Further information is not available, please update this if you know.
Trivia
Bolton's main claim to fame is that it starred in Peter Kay's pilot episode for his sketch show 'That Peter Kay Thing' in the early 2000s. The show was a 22-minute mockumentary titled 'At the Services' which took a look at a typical day at Bolton West, including manager Pearl Harbour's quest to impress a celebrity. It's thought that they filmed here because they were the only services to let him, but it seems to be quite a coincidence that most of Peter Kay's films are made in or around the Bolton area.
It used to be owned by BP, with the main facilities being leased out to First, but Euro Garages (who specialise in taking over unpopular petrol stations) took over the petrol station and have recently taken over the whole site. The services were then completely rebuilt and reverted to their original name, with the new southbound side opening on May 27th and further openings expected soon.
The old services were, quite simply, appalling. By the end of its life there was little care for any aspect of it, and its rating on this site was an average of 1.1 out of 5.
On the 23rd July 2010 there was a fire at the garage on the southbound services which meant there was no fuel available for a period, and further facilities had to be provided by portakabins.
The Subway surprisingly is open 24 hours.
Survey Results
In May 2012, the new services were given 3 stars by Visit England.
In 2000 the services were rated by the AA, who graded them as 'very poor', criticising poor signposting, overall outdoor facilities and unclean toilets. Woolley Edge fared even worse.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| none on M61 Birch (M62 east, 13 miles) | Services on the M61 | none on M61 Lancaster (M6 north, 27 miles) Blackburn with Darwen (M65, 15 miles) Tickled Trout (M6 north, 13 miles) |
Further Reading
With thanks to James for the information used on this page.