The Pennine Tower situated by the M6 in Preston (Image: Geograph/habiloid)
A posh restaurant in a tower on a busy motorway has been abandoned for 35 years.
Located at the Forton Services, Pennine Tower is 90ft high and was built in 1965 after the creation of the motorway network in the ‘50s.
It is on the M6 between Lancaster and Preston and is a familiar sight to those driving into the north of England, especially towards the Lake District.
Pennine Tower was built as a posh restaurant for travellers. When it opened it was the tallest motorway restaurant in the UK. The hexagonal structure, which resembles a UFO, rises above the road and offers views over Morecambe Bay and the fells.
It was originally built as part of a plan to make cross-country travel more enjoyable for Brits due to increasing car ownership.
The restaurant closed in 1989 (Image: Johnathan404/motorwayservices.uk)
The restaurant had an ambitious menu with items like grilled rainbow trout, fillet steaks and lobster, as well as local dishes like Lancashire Hot Pot and Morecambe Bay potted shrimps.
Former Pennine Tower waitress, Noreen Blackburn, left school in 1988 and went to work at the services, first in the cafeteria and then in the restaurant.
She previously recalled: “My greatest wish was to be a waitress in the ‘tower’ and I really pushed the catering manager to consider me.
“The uniform was so chic in a shade of mid-green with a pencil slim skirt which had to be just above knee level, a white blouse, a waistcoat with shiny chrome buttons and a Top Rank emblem embroidered on it.
“It was a joy when I donned that uniform and headed up to the tower on my first day!”
But despite having big dreams, the restaurant didn’t win over everyone.
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Egon Ronay, a well-known food critic, described the food as “an insult to one’s taste buds” in 1978, according to the Motorway Services Online website. He said the food at the services was ‘appalling’.
So it didn’t last long, with the tower turning into a trucker’s lounge before closing its doors in 1989. It was used as offices for a time and was given Grade II listed status in 2012.
Historic England has named the Pennine Tower as one of eight buildings that reflect how the 1960s space race, culminating in the moon landing in 1969, shaped architecture.
They discuss the Forton services on their blog, dubbing it ‘Space-age architecture’ and likening it to a ” ship next to a motorway”.
Forton Services includes two cafeterias, baby changing facilities and showers. It also has a bridge connecting it to the other side of the road.