Tebay Services

History

Tebay West Services, which serves the northbound carriageway, opened in 1972, two years after the M6 section between Lancaster and Penrith was completed. Tebay East was opened on 3 June 1993 by Secretary of State for Transport, John MacGregor serving southbound traffic. Both are operated by an independent family-owned company, Westmorland Motorway Services, rather than a national chain. The same company runs Truckstop Services at junction 38, which opened in 1986 and caters for HGV and long-distance coaches, and has opened Gloucester Services between junctions 11a and 12 of the M5 in Gloucestershire.

The company takes its name from the historic county of Westmorland.

Facilities

Tebay Services are in open countryside surrounded by trees, small lakes and panoramas of the Cumbrian landscape. The buildings are constructed in timber and local stone. There is parking for cars, coaches and HGVs. There are also restaurants and toilets.

Both northbound and southbound services also have award-winning farm shops. In 2003 they won Best Local Retailer in BBC Radio 4's Food and Farming Awards. The farm shops, which sell locally sourced produce, were officially opened by Prince Charles in 2004.

In addition, the northbound service area has a caravan park and a hotel. This site also serves as the head office for Westmorland Motorway Services.

Location

The services are between junctions 38 and 39 on the ascent from the Lune Valley to Shap summit. As the north and southbound carriageways diverge at this point, the two service areas are not actually adjacent to each other but a couple of hundred metres apart.

Testimonials

Comedian Gary Delaney has described Tebay Services as "...the Daniel Kitson of services", a reference to comedian Daniel Kitson's reputation as an accomplished comedic writer and performer who rarely appears in the media and therefore relies greatly on word of mouth.