| Todhills rest area | |
| Moto | |
 | |
| Road: | M6 between J44 and J45 |
| Address: | Moto Hospitality A74 Todhills Blackford Carlisle Cumbria CA6 4HA |
| Telephone number: | 01228 674689 |
| Signposted from the road? | Yes |
| Opened: | 1972? (southbound TRSA) 1980s (northbound TRSA) 2008 (rest area) |
| Previous operators: | Trusthouse Forte, Granada |
| Grid reference: | NY373622 |
| Services type: | Two sites located between junctions, with no public connection between them. |
| Visit Todhills Northbound/Moto's official website Visit Todhills Southbound/Moto's official website Facebook Page | |
The first and currently the only of a new wave of rest areas, Todhills is basically a small service station that could be the gateway to a whole new form of services. Watch this space.
Contents |
Facilities
General: Moto Free WiFi
Restaurants: Costa
Shops: none
Fuel: Shell (northbound only) (with: Deli2Go, Costa Express & Autogas LPG), BP (southbound only, with: Wild Bean Café)
Motel: none
Parking Prices
First two hours free for all vehicles. Further information is not available, please update this if you know.
Trivia
Todhills was originally no more than a little service area on the A74 - the remnants of a dangerous and narrow dual carriageway linking the M6 from Birmingham to the M74 to Glasgow. When it was finally announced that the road would be upgraded to become part of the M6, it was originally thought that the services would have to be closed as the new road would be twice as wide as the old one and the services wouldn't meet motorway service area criteria.
Instead the sliproads to the services were simply upgraded and, by pure luck more than anything else, Todhills became the UK's first of a new breed of motorway rest area: a service station which doesn't necessarily provide food or fuel. At least when a similar situation happened a few miles up the road at Gretna 20 years ago they had the decency to rebuild the services.
Until 2008 Todhills had its own page on Moto's website, but this has now been removed and there was only a brief reference to it on their map, until recently, when the page was put back on, although the Travelodge is not on the brand list.
In 2009 the services made local newspapers after they tried to sell alcohol on the grounds that a legal loophole meant they could do so, but a series of letters between BP and the Highways Agency saw that the plans were dropped.
The services are often referred to as 'Moss services'.
Survey Results
No information is currently available, please update this if you have any.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| Southwaite (13 miles) | Services on the M6 |
road becomes A74(M) Gretna Green (6 miles) |
| Southwaite (13 miles) | Moto services | none nearby |
With thanks to Gavin, Jonathan Elton and Harry for the information used on this page.