Forton Services

Very nice site!

Very nice site!

I can see the tower from my work and feel as though it is a shame it has been painted (at first we thought it was undercoat), I would love to go up in the tower though, Chris

Thanks for the comments Patrick. Glad to be of help on the nostalga front. Re the AA van ive also noticed theres 3 lanes, not 2, will adjust accordingly. Full marks for observation. Cheers, Andy

I am glad to have discovered your fascinating site. I really enjoyed looking at the pictures and the maps. As a kid I regularly travelled on the Preson and Lancaster Bypasses before they were linked. I remember the queues to join the A6 at Broughton and Carnforth, but, later on, it gave me a good chance to watch the contruction of the box girder fly-over at Broughton as the Preston-Lancaster link was built. Later in the 60s and early 70s, I used to nag my dad to take detours to watch the construction of the M6 through Westmoreland. (Thanks for the pics of the contruction of both sections which really brought back memories.)

When Forton Services opened, it became a regular stop. Sometimes it was just to use the vending machines at ground level; usually we went to the cafeteria up the steps, but occasionally (when Dad felt flush) we went to the restauarant in the tower. Very exciting!

One fly in the ointment: The AA van on the 'Local Interest' page is travelling on the original stretch of the M1. (The bridge design in the background of the left picture gives the clue.)

Thanks for bringing back wonderful memories. We always used to go on holiday in the Lake District, & it was my Gran's treat to give us a meal here as a thank you for bringing her. I will ask my dad, but I seem to remember her discretely slipping him a £10 note, which paid for all 6 of us. I'm 47 now but this was really exiting as a kid. If you could still go up the tower I'd make a detour. English heritage really should consider listing this, they have listed a disused tower built for testing lifts! Great site, cheers.

The tower is not listed. I have made enquiries but not got very far with it. The process is a bit in depth.

Good site,

I grew up in Scotland but used to go back to England occasionally. This really stood out to me as a child as really ugly, but now is a building I really like! Is it listed? It certainly has cultural value.

I run a small coach company called Stanways and a number of my drivers have not had their free meal at this site due to the staff saying you need to have over 30 passengers on the coach to get the free meal.