When John and Barbara Dunning’s farm in Cumbria, an area celebrated for its picturesque Lake District National Park, was cut in half by a highway project, they didn’t see it as the end. Instead, they saw a golden business opportunity.
The U.K. government’s plans to construct the motorway meant the Dunnings had to give up part of their land. However, they quickly turned this situation around.
By the late 1960s, they launched Tebay Services, the first family-run motorway service area in the U.K. that highlighted local products.
Their daughter, Sarah Dunning, narrates the journey of Tebay, which began in 1972 as a simple rest stop on the M6 motorway. It started with a small cafe serving homemade food and a craft shop selling local items, alongside a partnership with the Birketts family bakery.
Today, Tebay has transformed into a substantial venture with facilities on both sides of the motorway, a hotel, a caravan park, and shops offering produce from their farm.
Now under the leadership of Sarah Dunning, the Westmorland Family group not only manages Tebay but also oversees additional service areas in Gloucestershire and Lanarkshire, and a community center in Rheged, Lake District.
