Happy Trucker1:
Just to let you know
Parked up in Washington services plenty of spaces available at 6pm but after 5 mins of doing paperwork etc the roar coming from the A1 made it a no no for me .
Quick use of facilities and onto Team valley ind estate for me .
Should of tried the hotel on site. Stayed in Toddington S.Bound the other night, instead of sleeping with the fridge lorries etc all night it was £22.10 for the hotel which includes parking.
That is a bargain tbf, do some of those ■■■■ services not usually charge the thick end of 30 quid for parking alone?
I personally have not got a problem with sleeping in my cab with all my own home comforts, but if I was one for parking on MSAs,.and I have picked you up right on the cost, well it’s a no brainer as far as I can see.
Happy Trucker1:
Just to let you know
Parked up in Washington services plenty of spaces available at 6pm but after 5 mins of doing paperwork etc the roar coming from the A1 made it a no no for me .
Quick use of facilities and onto Team valley ind estate for me .
Should of tried the hotel on site. Stayed in Toddington S.Bound the other night, instead of sleeping with the fridge lorries etc all night it was £22.10 for the hotel which includes parking.
Happy Trucker1:
Just to let you know
Parked up in Washington services plenty of spaces available at 6pm but after 5 mins of doing paperwork etc the roar coming from the A1 made it a no no for me .
Quick use of facilities and onto Team valley ind estate for me .
Should of tried the hotel on site. Stayed in Toddington S.Bound the other night, instead of sleeping with the fridge lorries etc all night it was £22.10 for the hotel which includes parking.
That’s got to be cheaper than paying parking
HGV with food voucher: £32.50 with overnight security (food voucher value: £10.00)
Happy Trucker1:
Just to let you know
Parked up in Washington services plenty of spaces available at 6pm but after 5 mins of doing paperwork etc the roar coming from the A1 made it a no no for me .
Quick use of facilities and onto Team valley ind estate for me .
Should of tried the hotel on site. Stayed in Toddington S.Bound the other night, instead of sleeping with the fridge lorries etc all night it was £22.10 for the hotel which includes parking.
That’s got to be cheaper than paying parking
HGV with food voucher: £32.50 with overnight security (food voucher value: £10.00)
Lawrence Dunbar:
I remember when it first opened, Crap from day one IMO, The food was on paper plates and had to be placed in a infra red grill type of oven, You were handed a plastic tag which you put into the heating up device which was programed for the type of food one had chosen, I only had one breakfast in there It was poor as ■■■■, I never ever dined there again, When I used the word ■■■■ thats the only reason I stopped there again, Of course its all changed from those days, Hopefully its for the best, Drivers deserve the best in my book , Regards Larry.
Last time I did that was in London docks, and that was …50 years ago.
Lawrence Dunbar:
I remember when it first opened, Crap from day one IMO, The food was on paper plates and had to be placed in a infra red grill type of oven, You were handed a plastic tag which you put into the heating up device which was programed for the type of food one had chosen, I only had one breakfast in there It was poor as ■■■■, I never ever dined there again, When I used the word ■■■■ thats the only reason I stopped there again, Of course its all changed from those days, Hopefully its for the best, Drivers deserve the best in my book , Regards Larry.
Last time I did that was in London docks, and that was …50 years ago. [/quote
I live less than 10 mins walk from Washington Services and we delivered a lot of crushed stone from Springwell Quarry when that stretch of motorway was being built in about 1967 / 68 so have been following this thread,
They were opened by Granada in about 1970 (50 years ago) and were built on the site of the old Port filling station / cafe on what was then the Birtley Bypass.
It was the age of “White Heat technology” and they opened with automation in mind hence the bank of microwaves to cook ready meals.
I left school the same year and one of my class mates got his first job there, apprentice technician / electrician, looking after the b*** things but they proved totally unreliable.
As Larry mentions the food quality was also poor and the whole system was unpopular with customers and I think they reverted back to more traditional food prep / serving after about a couple of years.
As an experiment I have just tried to book a room online for tonight at the Travelodge there and was quoted £24.99 for one night, room only.
Free parking is also quoted with the booking but I am not sure how they will treat HGV’s as the parking and services are operated by Moto.
It also appears that only the Southbound Lodge is currently open (probably due to lack of custom because of the lockdown)
If anybody does park overnight there is a rough footpath for about 10 or 15 yards through the trees behind the Southbound lodge which leads to the road up to some of the Ind Estates, turn right onto the road and a 10 minute walk or less will get you to the Holiday Inn / Premier Inn and Toby Carvery site. Food may be better there than on the services.
