Caravan Friendly Service Stations

[JohnI.Stephen]

Travelling to and from the Lake District recently made me realise that some service stations are distinctly unfriendly towards long outfits that are around 12 metres in overall length! Is there a list of service stations on the M6 / M1 (etc) where one can feel confident in the ability to park and drive out without performing heart-stopping manoeuvres as you try to negotiate your way in and out with solo car drivers cursing you quite openly?!

Thanks !

John

 

[JohnI.Stephen]

I seem to be replying to myself because no one has responded. Perhaps no one feels that this is an issue; OK fine, but it certainly was for me last weekend.

 

[static2]

Hi John I. Sorry no replies yet but give it time as it must be an issue like you say. I'm interested in hearing about experiences on your topic as suitable stop-off places are important on a long journey. What happened to you last weekend and where is the service station you mentioned?

 

[JohnI.Stephen]

Hello 'static' ; Oh I wish I could recall specificall (I'll be more thorough next time). The best one was on the M6 southbound about 50 miles from the M1 and I parked amongst the coaches and HUGE articulated lorries. Basically this was a drive-in and drive-out operation. The one wheer we had the BAD expereince had a caravan symbol along with cars BUT the space for caravans was so limited that I had to immediately exit; threading my way through the maze of parked cars; it was nerve wracking to say the least! John

 

[Tina3]

Hi John

by recommendation of this forum we stopped at sedgemoor on way back from cornwall(m5) totally seperate dedicated places for cars,lorrys and caravans, it was busy but us vanners bieng polite seemed to have a system where if you where at the front and you could see it getting busy you went on your way !!!!we had a relaxing SAFE 45 min break there ! x

 

[Julie_5082657]

Regarding safety at motorway service stations, how safe are they to stay at for an overnight stop? Has anyone stayed on the M4 or M5?

 

[JohnI.Stephen]

I gues my real question should have been; "Has any one compiled a list of Caravan friendly Motorway Service Stations a copy of which one can obtain / download etc?

John

 

[Mike_5041089]

John - if anybody were to complie a list it would be an incredibly short one! I've yet to find a good MSA with dedicated caravan only use. Most of them park you up in a pool of diesel and grease with the big heavies, miles from the services, then if you want to get fuel on the way out, you have to use the HGV pumps which means that you have to pay before filling up, and the diesel pump discharges too quickly for the average car tank. Why can't they be more like the French ones? Dedicated areas, good quality resonably priced food and easy access to the pumps?

 

[emmerson2]

Try tebay on the M6. It has a lovely picnic area where you're welcome to park your outfit. In fact when it's busy there's a man there to guide up to it!They also sell LPG.

 

[Tonus]

Abington on the M74 has a small (four unit) stopping point.

Away from all the other vehicles but you need a spotter to see the entrance.

 

[LadyMaureen]

Hi there,

Each time we use a motorway service area, we now log the information about it for future reference.Gretna Services on the Scottish Border has a dedicated caravan parking area of 6 or 7 spaces and the signing to it is also good.Occasionally we do find the odd lorry parked there,which can be annoying.

Caravan Magazine were gathering info which they were going to publish.....does anyone know if they did?

 

[JohnI.Stephen]

Maureen; would you be prepared to share your log with us? It would be excellent if we all sent in updates so that we could download the latest (and greatest) information. Thoughts?

John