American visits ‘UK’s favourite services’ near Blackpool

YouTuber Cara from the Magic Geekdom channel visited Tebay Services in Cumbria, which was voted the UK's second-best motorway service station, and shared her honest review of the famous farmshop

Matt Jackson Trendswatch Content Editor 11:24, 09 Feb 2026Updated 11:24, 09 Feb 2026

Tebay was crowned the second-best service station(Image: Reach)

An American tourist recently visited the "beautiful" Tebay Services in Cumbria, often hailed as one of the best service stations in Britain. The service station was established by John and Barbara Dunning in 1972 when the M6 motorway was constructed through their land.[1][2]

Their farm, an hour away from Blackpool[3], still envelops the service station, with livestock frequently seen grazing as tired drivers pause for a respite during their travels.

The service station now boasts its own farm shop, featuring a butcher who serves meat from the Dunning family farm, and a kitchen that offers homemade sandwiches, salads and seasonal soups.

Cara, a YouTuber who runs the Magic Geekdom channel, tours the UK documenting her travels. She revealed that her viewers urged her to visit Westmorlands Farmshop and Kitchen Tebay during a recent trip to Cumbria, after it was voted the second-best service station, trailing only Gloucester, last year.[4]

Opting to stop at the northbound side of the service station due to its "older" nature and "nicer views", Cara was immediately taken with the surroundings, commenting: "What a lovely place, I think you would be hard-pressed to find anywhere like this in the US."

Upon entering the services, Cara was greeted with an array of locally-grown strawberries and cherries. She then decided to explore the farm shop, describing the sandwiches on display as "really good looking".

YouTuber Cara visited a service station that is considered among the best(Image: Magic Geekdom/YouTube)

Cara was "amazed" by the abundance of locally-sourced produce in the shop, comparing it to the supermarket chain Booths[5].

She enjoyed a chicken shawarma wrap and a raspberry lemonade.

Upon tasting the beverage, she remarked: "That's good, it's tart, I like it. I don't drink lemonade very often over here so maybe it's this tart, it's not as sweet as in the US."

She further commented: "For GBP10 that was pretty filling. It was a pretty tasty meal and probably the best meal I've had at a service station."

Following her visit, Cara concluded: "It is a pretty cool service station, I think cool is the right word.

The only farm shop I've ever been to was in the Cotswolds and it was pretty fancy and this was kind of on par with that."

Tebay services sells a range of cakes and bakes(Image: MEN)

However, despite its success, the future of Westmorland Farmshop and Kitchen remains uncertain. As reported by LancsLive, National Highways intends to replace eight bridges along a five-mile stretch of the motorway.

Both the north and southbound carriageways will need to close for two years during the construction. Sarah Dunning, while acknowledging that the farmshop has its own access road, admits that significant works on the motorway do impact visitor numbers.

She told The Telegraph: "Nobody is disputing that the bridges need replacing but this is going to hurt businesses, residents and farmers who use the junction as part of their everyday life.

We know from previous experience that roadworks on this scale are going to affect footfall."

Tebay services(Image: LancsLive)

She further commented: "People will have to go seven miles north to the next junction and drive all the way south again to get to Tebay, which they are not going to want to do. Over the course of four years or more, people are going to change their travel habits - and for businesses, that could be not just damaging but final."

National Highways has previously indicated it would consider temporary slip-roads while the work was underway. It stated: "Junction 38 will still remain open to traffic, apart from during a limited number of occasional overnight or weeknight closures.

Our aim is to cause as little disruption as possible."

References

1. ^ Cumbria (www.lancs.live)
2. ^ motorway was constructed through their land. (www.lancs.live)
3. ^ Blackpool (www.lancs.live)
4. ^ was voted the second-best service station, trailing only Gloucester, last year. (www.lancs.live)
5. ^ Booths (www.lancs.live)