Norton Canes services

Norton Canes Services
The main buildings.
County	Staffordshire
Road	M6 Toll
Coordinates	52°39′51″N 1°58′08″W / 52.6643°N 1.9688°W / 52.6643; -1.9688Coordinates: 52°39′51″N 1°58′08″W / 52.6643°N 1.9688°W / 52.6643; -1.9688
Operator	RoadChef
Date opened	March 9, 2004 (2004-03-09)[1]
Website	RoadChef
Norton Canes services (Staffordshire)

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, who has a 25-year lease on the site.^[2] The company also uses the site as its head office.^[3]

History

Opened on 9 March 2004,^[1] the 68-acre (28 ha) site^[4] is claimed to be the best service area on Britain's motorway network, featuring table service in the restaurant during the evening and free screen washes in the petrol station during quiet periods.^[1] The restaurant has smoothies, "gourmet salads" and sandwiches bearing the name of the chef. Pastries include vanilla custard crowns, oranais aux abricots and torsades au chocolat, though a review said that they "all polish and no punch – the inevitable expression of twenty-first-century supermarketing". It has been described as having "the look of a Scandinavian airport lounge".^[4] At opening, the service area produced 200 jobs for the local area.^[5]

Location

Norton Canes services is located on the M6 Toll between junctions T6 and T7, and is positioned so that it can be accessed before reaching the main toll plaza in either direction. It is a single-sided site, unlike a large majority of other service areas which have separate facilities for each direction. For this reason it is possible to do a U-turn at the services; however, it is not possible to avoid the toll in that way.

Unlike most other service areas, where it is illegal for traffic from local roads to use the back entrance to the site, provision has been made at Norton Canes for traffic from the A5 to access the services.^[6]

Present day

Layout of Norton Canes Service Station on the M6 Toll.

Facilities

Inside the main building, the following facilities are provided: Costa Coffee, WHSmith, Wimpy, Subway, RestBite, toilets and a cash machine. The petrol forecourt is operated by BP and is located to the south of the main services building.

Layout

The service station is a single site, accessed from the M6 Toll in both directions using a Trumpet Interchange.

An alternative view of the services building.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "UK | England | Coventry/Warwickshire | First M6 Toll road services open". BBC News. 2004-03-09. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventry_warwickshire/3544979.stm. Retrieved 2009-09-05. 
2. ^ "UK | England | Staffordshire | M6 Toll time draws near". BBC News. 2003-11-18. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/3280657.stm. Retrieved 2009-09-05. 
3. ^ "Article: Roadchef under offer from Israel as value climbs. | AccessMyLibrary - Promoting library advocacy". AccessMyLibrary. 2006-12-19. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-28990973_ITM. Retrieved 2009-09-05. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Mimi Spencer (18 April 2004). "New York, Paris, Milan, Walsall". The Observer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2004/apr/18/foodanddrink.features2. Retrieved 2009-09-05 
5. ^ "Article: Perspective: The Motor show: Fast lane to regional benefits. | AccessMyLibrary - Promoting library advocacy". AccessMyLibrary. 2002-10-30. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-26607434_ITM. Retrieved 2009-09-05. 
6. ^ "Norton Canes services". Motorway Services Online. http://motorwayservicesonline.co.uk/services/norton/. Retrieved 2009-09-05. 

External links

• RoadChef official website — Norton Canes
• Motorway Services Online — Norton Canes