Norton Canes services
Encyclopedia
Norton Canes services is a motorway service station on the M6 Toll
, in the village of Norton Canes
near the towns of Brownhills
, Cannock
, and Walsall
, in Staffordshire
, England
. It is operated by RoadChef
, who has a 25-year lease on the site. The company also uses the site as its head office.
Unlike most other service areas, where it is illegal for traffic from local roads to use the back entrance to the site, provision has been made at Norton Canes for traffic from the A5
to access the services.
, WHSmith, Wimpy
, Subway
, RestBite, toilets and a cash machine
. The petrol forecourt is operated by BP
and is located to the south of the main services building.
M6 Toll
The M6 Toll , connects M6 Junction 4 at the NEC to M6 Junction 11A at Wolverhampton with of six-lane motorway. The weekday cash cost is £5.30 for a car and £10.60 for a HGV...
, in the village of Norton Canes
Norton Canes
Norton Canes is a village and civil parish on the southern periphery of Cannock Chase District, in Staffordshire, England. It is situated out of the centre of Cannock. At the 2001 census it had a population of 6,394...
near the towns of Brownhills
Brownhills
Brownhills is a town in the West Midlands, England. Located on the edge of Cannock Chase near the large artificial lake Chasewater, it is north-east of Walsall and a similar distance south-west of Lichfield. It is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and the Aldridge-Brownhills...
, Cannock
Cannock
Cannock is the most populous of three towns in the district of Cannock Chase in the central southern part of the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England....
, and Walsall
Walsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
, in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is operated by RoadChef
RoadChef
Roadchef is a company which operates twenty motorway service areas in the UK. Behind Moto and Welcome Break, it is the third largest motorway service area operator .-History:...
, who has a 25-year lease on the site. The company also uses the site as its head office.
History
Opened on 9 March 2004, the 68 acres (27.5 ha) site is claimed to be the best service area on Britain's motorway network, featuring table service in the restaurant during the evening and free screen washes in the petrol station during quiet periods. The restaurant has smoothies, "gourmet salads" and sandwiches bearing the name of the chef. Pastries include vanilla custard crowns, oranais aux abricots and torsades au chocolat, though a review said that they "all polish and no punch – the inevitable expression of twenty-first-century supermarketing". It has been described as having "the look of a Scandinavian airport lounge". At opening, the service area produced 200 jobs for the local area.Location
Norton Canes services is located on the M6 Toll between junctions T6 and T7, and is positioned so that it can be accessed before reaching the main toll plaza in either direction. It is a single-sided site, unlike a large majority of other service areas which have separate facilities for each direction. For this reason it is possible to do a U-turn at the services; however, it is not possible to avoid the toll in that way.Unlike most other service areas, where it is illegal for traffic from local roads to use the back entrance to the site, provision has been made at Norton Canes for traffic from the A5
A5 road
The A5 is a major road in England and Wales. It is also the first Roman built road in England hence the name Roman Road. It runs for about from London, England to Holyhead, Wales, following in part a section of the Roman Iter II route which later took the Anglo-Saxon name Watling...
to access the services.
Present day
Facilities
Inside the main building, the following facilities are provided: Costa CoffeeCosta Coffee
Costa Coffee is a British coffeehouse company founded in 1971 by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa, as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. Since 1995 it has been a subsidiary of Whitbread, since when the company has grown to over...
, WHSmith, Wimpy
Wimpy (brand)
Wimpy is the brand name of a chain of fast-food hamburger restaurants based in the United Kingdom.-History:The Wimpy brand was created in the 1930s. The name was inspired by the character of J. Wellington Wimpy from the Popeye cartoons created by E. C. Segar...
, Subway
Subway (restaurant)
Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. . Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 35,519 restaurants in 98 countries and territories as of October 25th, 2011...
, RestBite, toilets and a cash machine
Cash Machine
"Cash Machine" is the debut single by English indie rock band Hard-Fi, taken from their debut album Stars of CCTV. It was originally released on 24 January 2005, where it was ineligible in the UK Singles Chart due to the inclusion of a sticker...
. The petrol forecourt is operated by BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
and is located to the south of the main services building.