Burtonwood services

Burtonwood services is a motorway service station on the M62 in Cheshire, near Warrington.

Burtonwood Services
The abandoned Westbound services
Welcome Break
Burtonwood services (Cheshire)
Information
CountyCheshire
RoadM62 Motorway
Coordinates:53.417072°N 2.637003°W / 53.417072; -2.637003
OperatorWelcome Break
Date opened1974

History

The services originally opened in 1974[1] with two sites, one each side of the motorway (the traditional layout of a British service station). The two distinctive conical-roofed buildings, one of which has since been demolished, were designed by the architect Patrick Gwynne. However, in 2008 the westbound side was closed,[2] traffic wishing to use the services now must use the opposite site, accessed from the roundabout. The former Westbound site is now owned by a developer. in the mid-1980s bands travelling between Manchester and Liverpool often stopped at the services and the site became an autograph hunters' hub - regular stoppers were Tears for Fears, Yazoo and Strut Trivia. The latter's "Waiting for the Car" was written on 11 November 1983 at midnight in the wigwam-shaped café on the westbound side.[3]

In August 2011 it was rated as 2 stars by quality assessors at Visit England.[4] The 2019 Motorway Services User Survey found that Burtonwood was in the bottom five motorway services in the UK for customer satisfaction.[5]

Westbound Site

The Westbound site was bought by Marshalls [3] and is being redeveloped for commercial use. The development is to be known as Gemini 8.[6] Tenants so far include a Travelodge motel [7] and a Starbucks Coffee Outlet. Furthermore, a Harvester restaurant has opened. From July 2014 a new Pub/Restaurant operated by the Marston's Inns and Taverns chain called the Skymaster has opened. The development is accessed from Junction 8 and is located adjacent to Gemini Retail Park.

Location

The services are located off junction 8 of the M62, access is from the roundabout from all directions.

References
  1. Motorway Services Trivia - Burtonwood Archived 5 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine - Accessed 21 January 2009
  2. Motorway Services Online - Burtonwood Archived 30 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine - Accessed 21 January 2009
  3. Marshalls buys Burtonwood services from Welcome Break - Accessed 21 January 2009
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Smithers, Rebecca (31 July 2019). "Severn Bridge services named as worst on England's motorways". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  6. Gemini 8 Warrington Archived 26 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Warrington Gemini Travelodge Archived 28 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
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