This is intended as a sort of companion to the “Old Cafes” thread, a place to list the Good, the Bad and the Unhygienic. Somehow I suspect there won’t be that many candidates for the “Good”, but I daresay some stories will unfold…
A starter for 10:
The Good: (not so much “good” as convenient)
a) Sandbach - about 3.5hours from the yard, so a good place to stop off before tackling drops around Manchester. Assuming I could find a space to park, that is.
b) Toddington - useful as it was about an hour away from the yard and a good place to get my wits together before tackling the North Circular.
The Bad:
a) any services where you had to circumnavigate the place twice just to get to the lorry park
b) any services where two artics and a Transit were enough to fill the lorry park
c) any services where you had to circumnavigate the place again to get out.
I have a dim memory of that one on the M4 just before the (old) Severn bridge being one of the worst.
The Unhygienic:
a) Keele - got what I now know to be food poisoning from there. Twice.
b) Fleet - filthiest toilets ever, something to do with drainage Or so they told me).
c) Scotch Corner.
Being based in Kent required crossing London to reach virtually everywhere except the South Coast, West Country and East Anglia in the early/mid '70s. Midnight/2am starts meant a toilet break, or the desperate need for some shut eye were the overwhelming issues requiring a stop. However a 5LW Atkinson necessitated another consideration - a downhill exit onto the motorway! Watford Gap Northbound was a definite no-no as were several others on the run up country. IIRC maximum range in 5 1/2 hrs duty was Trowell , Keele and Aust although none of these were by choice. The usual stops would have been Membury because I was either frozen or falling asleep and Leicester Forest. I came to like these two because they were both run by Ross and the food at the time was better than elsewhere. The lorry however wanted Leigh Delamere for its flat exit, but I can’t recall eating there westbound although coming home it would have been a common stop returning from Bristol market. On the M6 the choice would have been Hilton Park, mainly from the desire to get past Birmingham before the traffic got too busy; although frequently Corley had to do.
Quite often a Northbound call at Scratchwood to check the ropes or Toddington for the toilet would result in Wooley Edge for a longer break after the deliveries in the Sheffield area, while working out where to stop for the ‘night’. Going the other way Knutsford would have been a regular to check the delivery notes before heading into Manchester or the other North Western towns. Like Woodhall it would have been a southbound stopover to ring round trying to find a return load.
Coming home it would have been a really hacked off driver who found that the imminent approach of 3.30 pm meant that a decent break at Scratchwood or Heston, had been ruled out due to the delay it would mean getting through London in the heavy afternoon rush hour traffic.
So thumbs up for Scratchwood with its drivers cafe, the Blue Boar south bound for the same reason, Leicester Forest and Membury for the food (I think there was one other Ross), but the rest were just non descript from what is now 40 years ago.
Yes good shout for scratchwood.as it was the Last 01 telephone number coming out of anywhere around london .so we /i and all others used scratchwood for the [lie]telephone call to the office =HELLO, YES I AM STILL STUCK AT THE DOCKS, OR WHARF,! MAYBE GET TIPPED TODAY…ANSWER yes ok, straight back EMPTY. SEE YOU IN THE MORNING…or if they wanted a transfer charge call back to you at the telephone box the number would be LONDON AREA…SO THEN YOU WERE 2 HOURS AHEAD or more counting for traffic of your self so in for a good nosh .then home for a dodgy night out sorted.
Example of what i did…
God!didn’t we eat some crap over the years, all that grease, fatty bacon eggs swimming ,no wonder a drivers complaint was ulcers.strokes ,heart attacks, nothing to do with the actual work .it was the way most of us ate in cafe,dock canteens and cafes , 3 meals a day.if on dock work, Liverpool was a classic.2 course dinner, at 12 o,clock,if you just arrived ,tea at 3 , park up at Arden house ,salvation army [doss house]drivers on the top floor only or cab it .then a takeaway chippy at 6ish, then a pub ,slosh as much beer as possible, then a chinese takeaway around 11 ish,then a good spew,bad nights sleep, then good fried breakfast at the docks 9 ish, massive dinner 12 o clock, tea 3 ish then if not tipped the same as before,
you could have 2 days of this…it took a long time and a thousand calories a day diet to get all that weight off ,would i eat in those places again ,yes.
cav551:
However a 5LW Atkinson necessitated another consideration - a downhill exit onto the motorway!
Now there’s a criterion I’d never have thought of! 
Makes sense though…
deckboypeggy:
Yes good shout for scratchwood.as it was the Last 01 telephone number coming out of anywhere around london .so we /i and all others used scratchwood for the [lie]telephone call to the office =HELLO, YES I AM STILL STUCK AT THE DOCKS, OR WHARF,! MAYBE GET TIPPED TODAY…ANSWER yes ok, straight back EMPTY. SEE YOU IN THE MORNING…
Tsk tsk 
Not that I’ve ever been known to do the same sort of thing from a cafe in the 061 area… 