Lancaster (Forton) Services
Lancaster services is a motorway service station, between junctions 32 and 33 of the M6 motorway in England. The nearest city is Lancaster, about to the north. The site is operated by Moto.
Like many older service stations, it has an all-weather enclosed bridge which enables pedestrians to use both the northbound and southbound facilities. In 2005 this bridge had work carried out to strengthen it to withstand the impact of a heavy goods vehicle.
History
Construction
Forton Services was built on the Preston-Lancaster section of the M6. Junction 33 is to the north and junction 32 is to the south. The site's eastern edge is the boundary between Wyre district and City of Lancaster district.The architect was T. P. Bennett and Son. T. P. Bennett and Son's first design for service areas was Strensham services; Forton was its second.
It was originally operated by The Rank Organisation. In September 1964, company chairman John Davis announced that all Rank Organisation motorway service areas would have showers and toilets for lorry drivers, starting with Forton. The company felt that lorry drivers were often overlooked, and that lorry drivers previously had a 'smoke and a sandwich in a lay-by'. Farthing Corner on the M2 was the first Top Rank motorport to open, followed by Knutsford Services.
The section of the motorway was finished three months ahead of schedule and opened on the afternoon of 29 January 1965. The catering facilities at Forton services were not due to be completed before April 1965, however, the two petrol stations were able to open at the same time as the motorway, with the name Forton services. It was the second service station to open on the motorway, and is named after the nearby village of Forton.
It fully opened on Wednesday 14 July 1965, with 276 staff, and manager 36-year-old David Beatson, educated at Sale Grammar School.
Structure
The services is notable for an unusual hexagonal concrete tower on the northbound side, named The Pennine Tower, which originally housed an up-market restaurant and a sun deck. The tower was designed to resemble an air traffic control tower and is a prominent local landmark. The tower is across.The tower closed to the public in 1989 due to current fire regulations, and is only used for storage and occasional staff training. The tower was built to give views over Morecambe Bay to the west and the Trough of Bowland to the east. In late 2016, Moto refreshed the services and painted the tower in a beige colour whilst also refurbishing one of the passenger lifts.
The tower was listed Grade II on 15 October 2012.