| Knutsford Services | |
|---|---|
 The southbound main building. | |
  Knutsford Services Location in Cheshire, England  Knutsford Services Location on the UK motorway network | |
| Information | |
| County | Cheshire |
| Road | M6 |
| Coordinates: | 53°18′00″N2°24′08″W / 53.3001°N 2.4021°W |
| Operator | Moto Hospitality |
| Date opened | 1963[ citation needed ] |
| Website | moto-way |
Knutsford Services is a motorway service station on the M6 in Cheshire, England.
The headquarters of Tarmac for the 15-mile North Cheshire M6 section was at Over Tabley. Work on the Cheshire motorway section started on Wednesday 28 June 1961, officially by Sir Wesley Emberton, from junctions 18 to 20. [1]
The contract was awarded to Top Rank on Friday 29 September 1961, for 12 acres, with 48 petrol pumps. [2] [3] It was the second service area awarded to Rank. There would be two 75-seat transport cafes on either side for truckers; one would be open 24 hrs, the other from 7 am to midnight. The main catering would be on the bridge, with a 90-seat restaurant, and a 96-seat cafeteria. [4] Truckers' meals would cost 4 shillings; the truckers' menu was formed in consultation with the TGWU. [5] There would be parking for 96 trucks and 300 cars. Work on the restaurant began on 29 September 1962, to open in August 1963. [6]
The M6 section opened on Friday 15 November 1963 from Hanchurch to Lymm. The motorway section was officially opened at 12 noon from the Knutsford restaurant, with the Bishop of Chester Gerald Ellison and Sir Wesley Emberton; the motorway opened to drivers at 4 pm. The bishop prayed "that drivers would exercise courtesy and consideration for others, and that without fear or suffering they might come safely to their journey's end". Also at the Knutsford opening was the "lorry driver of the year", Joe Dakin. [8] [9] The first manager was Sidney Ash. [10] The site could provide meals for 373 people at once. [11]
Knutsford was one of the country's first motorway service stations. As with many services of the time, there are two sites located on either side of the carriageway, linked by a bridge which features a restaurant and shop. Coaches of north-west football fans would call in on their journey to London, and on the way back, occasionally requiring extra police.
The services are now owned by Moto.
The service station has a very short exit slip road, close to the A556 exit slip road on the northbound side of the M6. Slow moving vehicles are often forced to pull into the main carriageway at slow speeds. The station played a pivotal role in comedian Rhod Gilbert's special Rhod Gilbert and the Award-Winning Mince Pie.
The Cheshire Police Motorway Unit has one of its bases here, situated on the southbound side.
In June 2019, four bikers were stabbed at Knutsford Services, which led to the M6 northbound being closed off for some time between junctions 18 and 19. [12]
The service area is in Tabley Superior, near Knutsford, about one mile south of junction 19 of the M6.
The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over 230 miles (370 km) from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby before heading north-west. It passes Coventry, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Preston, Lancaster and Carlisle before terminating at Junction 45 near Gretna. Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74(M) which continues to Glasgow as the M74. Its busiest sections are between junctions 4 and 10a in the West Midlands, and junctions 16 to 19 in Cheshire; these sections have now been converted to smart motorways.
The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Bromwich and west of Birmingham through Sandwell Valley. It continues past Bromsgrove, Droitwich Spa, Worcester, Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Bristol, Portishead, Clevedon, Weston-super-Mare, Bridgwater, Taunton, Tiverton, Cullompton terminating at junction 31 for Exeter.
The M56 motorway serves the Cheshire and Greater Manchester areas of England. It runs east to west from junction 4 of the M60 at Gatley, south of Manchester, to Dunkirk, approximately four miles north of Chester. With a length of 33.3 miles (53.6 km), it connects North Wales and the Wirral peninsula with much of the rest of North West England, serves business and commuter traffic heading towards Manchester, particularly that from the wider Cheshire area, and provides the main road access to Manchester Airport from the national motorway network.
The M42 motorway runs north east from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire to just south west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, passing Redditch, Solihull, the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) and Tamworth on the way, serving the east of the Birmingham metropolitan area. The section between the M40 and junction 4 of the M6 forms – though unsigned as such – a part of Euroroute E05. Northwards beyond junction 11, the route is continued as the A42; the junctions on this section, 12–14, are numbered like a continuation of the motorway, but the road has non-motorway status from here.
The A14 is a major trunk road in England, running 127 miles (204 km) from Catthorpe Interchange, a major intersection at the southern end of the M6 and junction 19 of the M1 in Leicestershire to the Port of Felixstowe, Suffolk. The road forms part of the unsigned Euroroutes E24 and E30. It is the busiest shipping lane in East Anglia carrying anything from cars to large amounts of cargo between the UK and Mainland Europe.
The A50 is a major trunk road in England between Warrington and Leicester; historically it was also a major route from London to Leicester.
The A500 is a major primary A road in Staffordshire and Cheshire, England. It is dual carriageway for most of its length and connects Nantwich, junctions 16 and 15 of the M6 motorway with the city of Stoke-on-Trent. It is 19 miles (31 km) long.
Keele services is a motorway service station, between junctions 15 and 16 of the M6 motorway near Keele in England. Operated by Welcome Break, it was built in 1963 and was designed by Terence Verity of Verity Associates.
Corley services is a motorway service station between junctions 3 and 3A of the M6 motorway in the county of Warwickshire, England. It is close to the village of Corley, with the nearest city being Coventry several miles to the south, with Birmingham being situated slightly further to the west. A footbridge, made of concrete but now clad in green fibreglass panelling, spans the motorway to link services on both sides.
Tebay Services are motorway service stations on the M6 motorway in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. The northbound opened in 1972 and the southbound in 1993. They are run by Westmorland Motorway Services, a family-run business which eschews the typical facilities at British motorway services for a farm shop and buildings in keeping with the local environment.
Charnock Richard Services is a motorway service area between Junctions 27 and 28 of the M6 in England. The services are in the Lancashire borough of Chorley and were the first on the M6 when they opened in 1963. Originally operated by Trust House Forte, the services are currently operated by Welcome Break.
Lancaster (Forton) services is a motorway service station, between junctions 32 and 33 of the M6 motorway in England. The nearest city is Lancaster, about 7 miles (11 km) to the north. The site is operated by Moto.
Southwaite services is a motorway service station, between junctions 41 and 42 of the M6 motorway near Southwaite, Cumbria, England. It is about 7 miles (11 km) south of Carlisle, within the civil parish of Hesket
Sandbach services is a motorway service station on the M6 in Sandbach, Cheshire, England.
Newport Pagnell Services is a motorway service station between junctions 14 and 15 of the M1 motorway near Newport Pagnell in the City of Milton Keynes, north Buckinghamshire, England. It is owned and operated by Welcome Break.
The M54 is a 23-mile-long (37 km) east-west motorway in the counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire, England. It is also referred to as the Telford motorway, after the road's primary westbound destination, the town of Telford. It cost £65 million to construct, and is two-lane dual carriageway for the majority of its length, with sections of three-lane.
The A556 is a road in England which extends from the village of Delamere in Cheshire West and Chester to the Bowdon Interchange in Cheshire East, bordering Greater Manchester. The road contains a mixture of single and dual carriageway sections and forms a large part of the route between Manchester and Chester. It also acts as a major access route to Chester/North Wales to the west and to Manchester to the east for the conurbation of towns and villages around the Dane Valley centering on Winsford and Northwich. The central part, which forms the Northwich Bypass between Davenham and Lostock Gralam, suffers because of the amount of commuter traffic from this area. The part of the route between the M6 motorway Junction 19 and the M56 motorway Junction 7 is a major route into Manchester and has been recently upgraded to a four-lane dual carriageway.
The Thelwall Viaduct is a steel composite girder viaduct in Lymm, Warrington, England. It carries the M6 motorway across the Manchester Ship Canal and the River Mersey. It is between junctions 20 and 21 of the M6, the former also being junction 9 of the M56.
Toddington Services is a motorway service station on the M1 motorway between junctions 11A and 12, just north of Luton and Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England. It takes its name from the nearby village of Toddington. It is owned by Moto Hospitality.
The Weaver Viaduct, in the north of Cheshire on the M56, is one of the longest concrete viaducts on the British motorway network.
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