Stafford services is a pair of

motorway service station Motorway service areas in the United Kingdom and Ireland, also known as services or service stations, are rest areas where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel/recharge, rest, eat and drink, shop or stay in an on-site overnight hotel. The vas ...

s on the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at t ...

near

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, England. In August 2011 it was rated as 4 stars (northbound - Moto) and 3 stars (southbound -

Roadchef Roadchef is a company which operates 21 motorway service areas in the United Kingdom. It is the third-largest motorway service area operator in the country, behind Moto and Welcome Break and followed by Extra. History Roadchef was founded in J ...

) by quality assessors at

Visit England VisitEngland is the official tourist board for England. Before 1999 it was known as the English Tourist Board and between 1999 and 2009 as the English Tourism Council. In 2003, it merged with the British Tourist Authority to form VisitBritain be ...

. It is unusual, in that the facilities on the northbound (opened 1996) and southbound (1999) sides of the motorway are operated by separate companies: Moto (formerly Granada) and

respectively. They are apart.

History

Prior to the construction of the station, a

geophysical survey Geophysical survey is the systematic collection of geophysical data for spatial studies. Detection and analysis of the geophysical signals forms the core of Geophysical signal processing. The magnetic and gravitational fields emanating from the E ...

was undertaken to examine

cropmarks Cropmarks or crop marks are a means through which sub-surface archaeological, natural and recent features may be visible from the air or a vantage point on higher ground or a temporary platform. Such marks, along with parch marks, soil marks an ...

which possibly marked the location of a

ring ditch In archaeology, a ring ditch is a trench of circular or penannular plan, cut into bedrock. They are usually identified through aerial photography either as soil marks or cropmarks. When excavated, ring ditches are usually found to be the ploughed� ...

to ensure that an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

was not destroyed. The ditch was not found, although medieval and post-medieval artefacts were recovered. Blue Boar constructed the southbound services, in addition to their services at Watford Gap but shortly before completion in 1999 they were acquired by Roadchef, who now operate the site.Stafford SouthMotorway Services Online
UK. Accessed 16 February 2009. The 2019 Motorway Services User Survey found that Stafford's northbound side was in the top five motorway services in the UK for customer satisfaction.

Location

The services are located in Staffordshire on the M6 motorway between junctions 14 and 15, and are accessed directly from the motorway.

Stoke on Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

is located about to the north,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

about to the north, and

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

is about to the south. By road they are about from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

References

External links

Moto official website — Stafford North

RoadChef official website — Stafford South

Motorway Services Trivia website — Stafford

Stafford North — Motorway Services Online

Stafford South — Motorway Services Online
{{Motorway service stations in the United Kingdom 1966 establishments in England M6 motorway service stations Moto motorway service stations RoadChef motorway service stations Buildings and structures in Staffordshire Transport in Staffordshire