| Tebay | |
| Westmorland | |
 | |
| Road: | M6 between J38 and J39 |
| Address: | Westmorland Motorway Services Ltd Westmorland Place Orton Penrith Cumbria CA10 3SB |
| Telephone number: | 015396 24511 |
| Signposted from the road? | Yes |
| Opened: | 1972 (northbound) 1993 (southbound) |
| Previous names: | Tebay Mountain Lodge |
| Grid reference: | NY605062 (northbound) NY608065 (southbound) |
| Services type: | Two sites located between junctions, with no public connection between them. |
| Visit Tebay/Westmorland's official website Facebook Page | |
By far the most popular and probably the most famous service station. It's a family owned site which sits in the Lake District on the M6, consisting of two services offering great views. It has many nice and unique facilities such as a duck pond, a farm shop and a caravan park, and its quality and cleanliness are often praised.
Lorry drivers may prefer the J38 Truckstop, which is also ran by Westmorland and located a few miles to the south at J38.
Contents |
Facilities
General: Picnic Area, Caravan Park (northbound only), Conference Room, Field, Children's Play Area, Showers, Barbecue Area
Restaurants: Restaurant, Coffee Shop
Shops: Retail Store, Farm Shop, Butcher's Counter
Fuel: Total (with: Coffee Bar Premier LPG electric vehicle charging point)
Motel: The Westmorland Hotel[website]
Parking Prices
First two hours free for all vehicles. After that cars must pay £10 and lorries / caravans £18.
The fees are enforced by Westmorland Limited.
Trivia
Built by the original landowners (Dunning family) who sold some of their farm land to facilitate the M6 development, but kept ownership of some of their land next to the motorway for their own future development. In 1972 the Dunning family went into partnership with a number of local businesses and formed the company Westmorland to develop the Tebay northbound services.
The southbound services opened in 1993, but the northbound side opened approximately 20 years earlier. It forms the head office for Westmorland who run several businesses in the area.
In 2008 the southbound services were refurbished and became the only motorway service station with a butcher's counter.
In 2010 the services raised £3,500 for the Cumbria flood appeal.
It's one of the few sites where cars are permitted to drive out of the secret exit. This is for southbound traffic to access the motel and caravan park.
Timeline
1972 - Westmorland is formed and Tebay Services Northbound is built.
1978 - Tebay Mountain Lodge opens with 32 rooms.
1980 - Westmorland Caravan Park opens at Tebay Services northbound.
1993 - Tebay Services Southbound opens.
1994 - First Coffee shop on UK Motoway network opens at Tebay Northbound services.
1997 - Tebay Mountain Lodge is extended to offer 51 rooms, a licened restaurant and conference facilities. At the same time its re-named Westmorland Hotel.
2003 - Westmorland Farm Shops were officially opened at Tebay North and Southbound services by Prince Charles. This was a new concept on a British motorway.
2007 - Tebay Services launched outdoor eating area complete with barbecues’.
2008 - A butchers counter with meat maturing and cutting room opens as a extension to the farm shops at Tebay services southbound.
2011 - The northbound seating area is extended out the front beside the lake for extra accomodation.
Survey Results
By and large, Tebay tends to be favoured in most surveys it features in. As of August 2011, it is the highest-ranked service area on this site.
In 2011 Tebay north was the only motorway service area to enter the Loo of the Year Awards, and it was graded 5 stars.
In August 2011 the southbound services were rated 4 stars by Visit England, who said they had the best outside play area and landscaping and said it was best for families. However, also in August, Manchester Confidential suggested that the services suffered from the same pitfalls as many of the others when it comes to staff, food and cleanliness, with the only difference being the family values.
In November 2010 the southbound services won a five star loo award.
In October 2010 Sarah Dunning, the director of Westmorland, topped the Family Business category at the Institute of Directors' Director of the Year awards.
In December 2009 the services won a five star loo award and came top in the motorway services category, but few services took part in this.
In 2009 it won Egon Ronay's British Academy of Gastronomes’ Grand Prix award, thought to be the first time a service station has ever won such a thing.
Also in 2009 it won the Northern Foods Rural Action Award in the Businesses in the Community Awards for Excellence. It was also listed in The Telegraph's top 50 farm shops, and The Times listed it as the best service station in the country.
In November 2006 the BBC's 'The Money Programme' loved Tebay's food but hated the prices that came with it.
Holiday Which? also loved Tebay, and in 2006 they chose it as the best service station in Britain.
Tebay's farm shop won 'Best Local Retailer 2003' in 'BBC Radio 4's Food and Farming Awards'.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| Burton-in-Kendal (M6 northbound, 21 miles) Killington Lake (M6 southbound, 11 miles) Scotch Corner (A66, 44 miles) | Services on the M6 | Southwaite (26 miles) |
AA survey results from the Automobile Association, you can view the full report and what they were looking for in this PDF document.