Sandbach Services | |
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Location in Cheshire, England | |
Information | |
County | Cheshire |
Road | M6 |
Coordinates: | 53°08′24″N2°20′12″W / 53.1399°N 2.3367°W |
Operator | Roadchef |
Date opened | 1976 |
Website | www |
Sandbach services is a motorway service station on the M6 in Sandbach, Cheshire, England.
The site was built by Linked Group Construction, with a contract in August 1975 for £906,000. [1] The same Cheshire construction company would be given the £750,000 contract for Taunton Deane services, but the company collapsed before Taunton Deane was built.
The northbound side opened for fuel on Monday 15 December 1975, with the southbound side opening before Christmas 1975. Both sides in 1975 had fuel and limited catering. Full catering would open in the summer of 1976. The site was opened for fuel at an earlier date, as the services at Knutsford and Keele were highly congested at peak times (and still are, notably the petrol at Knutsford). [2]
The services originally fully opened in July 1976 and have always been operated by Roadchef.
In 2004, Swiss catering inspectors, working on behalf of the AA and Continental motoring organisations, found that Sandbach Services were the worst of the 61 service stations they had visited. [3] In August 2011, it was rated as three stars by quality assessors at Visit England. [4]
The arrests of two men in connection with the failed Glasgow bombing were conducted in the vicinity of Sandbach Services [5] because it is relatively isolated services, as opposed to the next set of services at Stoke, on the junction with the A500. They are also the last services on the M6 in Cheshire and therefore the final place for the Cheshire Constabulary to act.
National Express use it for the drivers' 45 minute breaks.
The services are located between junctions 16 and 17 of the M6 on both sides of the carriageway. The nearest town is Sandbach. Nearby attractions include Jodrell Bank Observatory.
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 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.
Sandbach is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire East borough of Cheshire, England. The civil parish contains four settlements: Sandbach, Elworth, Ettiley Heath and Wheelock. It lies close to the cities of Stoke on Trent, Manchester, Chester, Liverpool and Salford.
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.
Knutsford services is a motorway service station on the M6 in Cheshire, England.
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 known for their family-run business which eschews the typical facilities at British motorway services for a farm shop and buildings in keeping with the local environment.
Roadchef Motorways Limited is a company which operates 21 motorway service areas in the United Kingdom. It is the third-largest motorway service area operator in the country, behind Moto and Welcome Break and followed by Extra.
Stafford services is a pair of motorway service stations on the M6 motorway near Stone, Staffordshire, England. In August 2011 it was rated as 4 stars and 3 stars by quality assessors at Visit England.
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.
Taunton Deane services is a double sided motorway service station on the M5 motorway near Taunton, England. It is owned by Roadchef.
Norton Canes Services is a Motorway Service Station on the M6 Toll, in the village of Norton Canes near the towns of Brownhills, Cannock, and Walsall, in Staffordshire, England. It is operated by Roadchef, which has a 25-year lease on the site. The company also uses the site as its head office.
The M54 is a 23-mile (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 being also known as junction 9 of the M56.
Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council, which is based in the town of Sandbach. Other towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Congleton, Wilmslow, Nantwich, Poynton, Knutsford, Alsager, Bollington and Handforth.
Burtonwood services is a motorway service station on the M62 in Cheshire, near Warrington in England.
The Weaver Viaduct, in the north of Cheshire on the M56, is one of the longest concrete viaducts on the British motorway network.