Yes that’s right, the service station reviews are back after (one) request. I had a few old reviews of locations drafted but I have somehow managed to lose them so you will have to make do with this little one for now.

The attached photo sums up the overall feel of the “arcade” area for the Colsterworth service station on the Southbound A1, just south of Grantham. I thought it is absolute comic gold that there was a "Games" area with one bench and one 'claw' game. Brilliant. The food offer was similar; offering a not-so-wide selection of coffee / tea and chocolate bars, the main redeeming features of the station was that it actually sold petrol (which is quite an integral offer) and actually stocked a Mars bar - excellent for 5 hour drives. Don’t get me started on the toilets…
By the way, I welcome any suggestions for service stations to: servicestations@trmagic.com.

All-in-all not one of the best services in the UK: Scores on the doors: 2/10


More soon...Tom Rose / London Magician Blog:
http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

As per usual Christmas was super busy and that clearly meant I was traveling all over which means another service station review. I am actually getting people read these and tell me about them and I can’t decide if people think I’m just sad or funny. Hummm.

Moving on, somewhat unbelievably I have never been on the M6 Toll as I have never been bothered to pay the £3.95 or whatever it is for the joy of driving on a really boring bit of motorway. However, having traveled on the M6 three times in the same week for magic gigs in Cheshire and Birmingham over Christmas I thought I would just go crazy and try the Toll; what a revelation! Because you have to pay to use the road, there is not a crap car in sight, its brilliant!

Generally speaking there are no lorries (they are saving their £3.95 for a bacon butty at the next truck stop) and no knackered old Fiestas driven by a 17-year-old who needs to save his £3.95 for his next sovereign ring, innit, (at least that’s what I think they say). As such the normal people of the world can speed along with no hold ups. Marvelous.

And that brings me to the service station review. To be fair, its already off to a cracking start as once again the car park is full of neatly parked cars of a nice nature. Its kind of a middle class service station as you can’t get there without paying the Toll. Genius.

According to good old Wikipedia the services were opened in 1994 and claimed to be “the best service area on Britain’s motorway network”, well I think this blog will be the judge of that. Seriously though (can this ridiculous feature ever be serious?!) the facilities are really decent. The car parking and landscaping are nice and there is a good offering of food outlets including Costa (in fact 3 Costa outlets in the same building), a Wimpy and a Roadchef restaurant. I actually braved ordering a mixed grill and to be fair it was actually pretty good. Its no Claridge’s but for service station food it was good. The toilets were OK too, not the best but OK.

I’m never surprised at what they sell in those shops that are in services these days, it just to be the case that you were lucky if you could get a packet of AA Batteries but now they seem to sell a crazy array of things. When I was there it was tents, children’s laser guns and power drills on offer. I can imagine that would make an interesting feature for a family in the back of the car down the M6.

All in all it was a very decent stop, earning a very respectable 8.5/10. Good work.

p.s. in my quick google search I actually found a website devoted to service stations in the UK, oh how the internet has changed the lives of thousands.

More tomorrow kids. The Tom Rose Magic Blog: http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Don’t worry kids, I’m back.

This week I had a letter from John, aged 23 from Keighley. John was disappointed not to see any more service station reviews recently, as John writes, “I do a lot of driving so they are important”. Therefore I have bowed to the pressures of fan mail and here is the next instalment. I should make a book.

This week during a trip to Manchester for a magic show, gig, job – whatever I should cal it, I stopped in at Moto Hilton Park Services, between junctions 10a and 11 of the M6. I think there is a certain irony that the word “Hilton” appears in the title as this site is definitely more Hi-Di-Hi than Hilton quality. Looking that the building it looks like the bridge of a 1980s cargo ship (see photo) and then when you get inside it maintains the nautical theme by being so empty its like the Mary Celeste. That said it does have a decent offering of facilities including an M&S Simply Food, which is always a good sign. One place which was buzzing was the spacious arcade / gambling area into which the local Staffordshire yobs were placing their pennies at a scarily rapid rate.

Doing some research (if you are going to do something you might as well do it properly), it seems that this was the busiest service station in the UK in 1998, what a prestigious title. In addition they spent £2.1million refurbishing it in 1999; I’m at a loss to see where that cash went. It even has its own Wiki page though: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilton_Park_services

On the plus side it had wireless internet which meant I could check my e-mails for the bargain price of £5 per hour, on the downside they had the smallest sinks I have ever seen in a toilet; the poor lorry driver with huge hands never had a chance.

Overall a rather uninspiring pit stop, 5/10

Its been a while hasn’t it?

It has been a really crazy August. After the robbery I’ve been replacing a lot of my props and strangely the other stuff that got stolen… for example new contact lenses which meant an eye test to prove that even in my tender years my eyesight is pretty average.

I have also had the chance to take some time out in August which is nice. To have a weekend in the summer when I am not working at a wedding is really strange, in fact, it’s probably one of the first times in the summer when I have taken a weekend off. Crazy.

In terms of magic news I have been booking out a lot of other top magicians for events I cannot do, this is not an entertainment agency thing (as they are usually more hassle than they are worth) its more of a kind of close network of trusted magicians I work with who I can pass on work to. I’ll have a new website up and running for this soon.

One of the main things I have been working on this week, other than my chop cup routine (made famous by Paul Daniels- see You Tube link), is my squash skills (see link for UK Squash). Keeping fit is very important when you spend your life travelling to gigs and eating Ginsters pies from petrol stations (a phenomenon which I discussed with a band I worked with once) so if anyone plays and ever wants a game let me know.

At the end of March I did a massive amount of miles with magic gigs all over the UK. A good example of where my travels have taken me is performing table magic in the Lake District followed by magic at a corporate event in London and then back up north for walk around magic at 50th birthday party in Sunderland, all in the space of a weekend. So, with the massive amount of miles I did that weekend, and back by popular demand (you know who you are) its the return of 'Rate the Service Station' feature.

This weeks choice is Corley Welcome Break (photo above left).
+Plus points Based on the M6 these services are a great British 'wee stop'. Outside there were two old gents collecting for the local Round Table and there was a good selection of motorway eats (KFC, Welcome Break Cafe and even a half decent Starbucks). Unlike the last service station review, there were no crazy people which is always a plus point.
-Down points However, there was evidence of the favourite past time of kids these days, theft and vandalism. I found it mildly amusing that the police signs asking motorists to keep their valuables safe and secure was placed next to the large service station sign which had clearly been stolen by the local yobs (hard to see, but the photo is below right). Also, if you ever go to these services watch out for the huge metal bollards at the entrance to the car park. When you are flying off the motorway at 70mph its not ideal to have a tiny narrow entrance with bollards in which you must perform a Jenson Button style maneuver to avoid. Apparently a few motorists haven't heard to Jenson Button and so have driven straight into them. Great stuff.

With my mammoth 630 mile drive yesterday, I was bored, very bored driving up the M25 /M1 so I came up with a new feature for the blog, and so my "Rate The Service Station" begins. Believe me, at 1am, these ideas sound good.

So, come 1am I was knackered and decided to stop to have a coffee and judge service station number 1. Its Moto Donnington Park Services, Junction 23a of the M1. A classic new style services.
+Plus points were wide selection of offerings, including Marks & Spencer's Simply Food, a great addition to any motorway stop, Burger King, and the most surprising feature was the coffee on offer. It was self service as it was late night, but the large, clean mug was filled with strong, fresh tasty coffee for £1.99, great value for services and very tasty.
-Down points, Donnington suffers from a selection of crazy people. Even at 1am there was a mad-man screaming from the balcony, never ideal for a peaceful late evening coffee break. Other than that, toilets suffered from an array of drunk teenagers, but this is a hazard found in any of the UK's toilets. Overall, very good service and surprisingly good coffee, only let down by a selection of mad people. 8/10.

Oh, as a final point. Just a quick warning to let you know if you are planning to hold an event while England are playing in the world cup- don't do it! Unfortunately everyone just wants to watch the footy and the day can be significantly disrupted!