Was its still Granada (same crew as Forton anyway i believe) when Hilton Park closed the transport cafe. also up in the tower.
Whichever bunch of suits owned it at the time i wrote to them at head office in protest, still waiting for a reply.
Served good food at fair prices, the staff were decent, and always had a decent number of drivers munching there.
It’s all down to money, at one time there would be more lorries in an MSA than cars during the working day, now the balance of traffic has shifted drastically, and with families especially at busy times you could probably get enough cars parked for 300 customers there to spend, where you would need the same space for 40 lorries of which many now self cater, so they might only get 10 lorry driver paying customers, if that.
Mind you, do modern lorryists have time to stop for a bite to eat, i thought they snaffled a break on the pumps these days 
Oh and Northampton services will always be Rothersthorpe, and whatever its called now will always be Scratchwood 
Forever Forton services with me as well Robroy the same goes with Farthing Corner services on the M2 - Medway services indeed !
Pennineman:
Forever Forton services with me as well Robroy the same goes with Farthing Corner services on the M2 - Medway services indeed !
Rivington, wtf is that all about, it was always Anderton as I remember.
I always drive past it thinking the cafe looks like the flight deck of the star destroyer from star wars lol
Hilton Park changed to Birmingham North after a few months changed back to Hilton Park.
Juddian:
Was its still Granada (same crew as Forton anyway i believe) when Hilton Park closed the transport cafe. also up in the tower.
Whichever bunch of suits owned it at the time i wrote to them at head office in protest, still waiting for a reply.
Served good food at fair prices, the staff were decent, and always had a decent number of drivers munching there.
It’s all down to money, at one time there would be more lorries in an MSA than cars during the working day, now the balance of traffic has shifted drastically, and with families especially at busy times you could probably get enough cars parked for 300 customers there to spend, where you would need the same space for 40 lorries of which many now self cater, so they might only get 10 lorry driver paying customers, if that.
Mind you, do modern lorryists have time to stop for a bite to eat, i thought they snaffled a break on the pumps these days
Oh and Northampton services will always be Rothersthorpe, and whatever its called now will always be Scratchwood
Blue Boar Crick and Farthing Corner had decent drivers restaurants too.
Wheel Nut:
Juddian:
Was its still Granada (same crew as Forton anyway i believe) when Hilton Park closed the transport cafe. also up in the tower.
Whichever bunch of suits owned it at the time i wrote to them at head office in protest, still waiting for a reply.
Served good food at fair prices, the staff were decent, and always had a decent number of drivers munching there.
It’s all down to money, at one time there would be more lorries in an MSA than cars during the working day, now the balance of traffic has shifted drastically, and with families especially at busy times you could probably get enough cars parked for 300 customers there to spend, where you would need the same space for 40 lorries of which many now self cater, so they might only get 10 lorry driver paying customers, if that.
Mind you, do modern lorryists have time to stop for a bite to eat, i thought they snaffled a break on the pumps these days
Oh and Northampton services will always be Rothersthorpe, and whatever its called now will always be Scratchwood
Blue Boar Crick and Farthing Corner had decent drivers restaurants too.
Knutsford on the overhead bridge also.
robroy:
Pennineman:
Forever Forton services with me as well Robroy the same goes with Farthing Corner services on the M2 - Medway services indeed !
Rivington, wtf is that all about, it was always Anderton as I remember.
Was it called Bolton west for a short while before becoming Rivington ?
Quite forgotten about the Blue Boar, always busy.
robroy:
Was coming past Forton services yesterday (or Lancaster msa as it’s known now) and remembered when the Transport cafe used to be up that tower in the 80s 90s.
Just wondered why they don’t use it now.
I know why it aint transport dedicated any more because the basts in msa.s just endure us but don’t really want us anymore 
,… but you would think with the tower being a unique feature that they would capitalise on it in some way.
Is it a H&S ■■■■■■■■ type thing, with it having to be entered by lift only, or what.
Who knows ? …who cares. 
(These are the type of things that occupy my mind when driving along bored [zb] less with life. [emoji38] )
0
I worked as a manager at Moto many many moons ago (don’t shoot me). I remember being told that the transport tower was closed due to asbestos and the costs of reopening it were too great.
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Scratchwood is called London Gateway now, I remember Clackets on the M25 had a drivers restaurant too.
According to Wikipedia at least the Forton tower was closed in 1989 when fire regulations updated and a second non lift exit was required. It was described as an upmarket restaurant although suspect tgat was the original version not when it closed.
Asbestos would likely be present too but unlikely to cause any issues back then, but could have been used as an excuse (only stopped fitting it on 1999).
LFE Services will always be ‘Ross’s’ to me!
carryfast-yeti:
LFE Services will always be ‘Ross’s’ to me!
And Woodall services was Fortees
robroy:
Was coming past Forton services yesterday (or Lancaster msa as it’s known now) and remembered when the Transport cafe used to be up that tower in the 80s 90s.
Just wondered why they don’t use it now.
I know why it aint transport dedicated any more because the basts in msa.s just endure us but don’t really want us anymore ,… but you would think with the tower being a unique feature that they would capitalise on it in some way.
Is it a H&S ■■■■■■■■ type thing, with it having to be entered by lift only, or what.
Who knows ? …who cares.
(These are the type of things that occupy my mind when driving along bored [zb] less with life. )
0
good shout , i always wondered what that was when sat there or going past .
I’ve always known it as Forton.
Isn’t there a proper truck stop a bit further north with a hotel, bar and all sorts?
drew30:
I’ve always known it as Forton.
Isn’t there a proper truck stop a bit further north with a hotel, bar and all sorts?
Carnforth, then Tebay further north.
I always used to stop at the Morecambe Truck Stop - alright the market ground
LG I tend to still call Scratchwood and everyone knows that name. Then again, you can understand why they changed it; scratching is something you do when you’ve got an itch. Rothersthorpe, well, it’s a little village and Northampton is a lot more famous, and the new name makes sense now that you can get to Northampton through the same exit.
