Forton Services and the Pennine Tower: The Space-Age Beacon of the M6

For anyone who has ever driven the long, northward stretch of the M6 through Lancashire, the horizon delivers a sudden, glorious jolt just past junction 32. Rising like a concrete spacecraft stranded next to the tarmac, the Pennine Tower at Forton Services is an absolute legend of British transport design - a bold, hexagonal exclamation mark that perfectly captures the unbridled optimism of the 1960s space race.

Opened in 1965, this 90-foot-tall modernist beacon was constructed to mark the completion of the newly laid motorway connecting the Lancaster and Preston bypasses. At a time when the British motorway network was brand new, driving was not a monotonous chore; it was a thrilling, democratic symbol of freedom and technological progress. Forton Services, designed by the esteemed London practice T.P. Bennett & Sons, was built to reflect that exact glamour.

The jewel in Forton's crown was its spectacular, elevated restaurant deck. Conceived by job architects Bill Galloway and Ray Anderson, the hexagonal tower was purposely styled to mimic an airport control tower, deliberately evoking the jet-age sophistication of mid-century air travel. Wrapped in an external, cantilevered viewing platform, the 150-seat premium restaurant offered panoramic views stretching across the sweeping fells of the Trough of Bowland to the east and the shimmering waters of Morecambe Bay to the west.

In its golden era, operated by the Top Rank organisation, the Pennine Tower was the highest motorway restaurant in Britain. It was an upscale, destination dining experience where motorists would pull over to feast on steak and lobster while watching the traffic stream continuously below them. Illuminated by night, the building cut such a futuristic silhouette against the dark Lancashire sky that locals and passing drivers frequently joked it looked like a genuine UFO.

However, the dream of fine dining at 70 miles per hour proved short-lived. The logistics of operating a high-end kitchen up a narrow concrete shaft were immensely challenging, and as motorway travel transitioned from a luxury pastime into a mass-transit utility, the demand for sit-down luxury waned. The elegant restaurant eventually became a trucker’s lounge before changing fire regulations forced its complete closure to the public in 1989.

For decades, the tower has stood empty, an inaccessible time capsule of sixties idealism. Yet, its architectural brilliance has never faded. Recognizing its extraordinary status as an icon of populist, post-war design, Historic England granted the tower Grade II listed status in 2012, celebrating it as a beautiful, poetic monument to the democratic aesthetic of the British road trip.

The Lancashire Modernist Connection

In the minds of design purists and architecture lovers, Forton Services does not stand alone. It is spiritually and geographically linked to another titan of Lancashire modernism just a few miles down the road: the legendary Preston Bus Station.

Completed just a few years later in 1969, Preston Bus Station shares that same heroic, uncompromising civic scale and structural bravura. Where Preston conquered the urban landscape with its sweeping, curved concrete balcony tiers, Forton conquered the open road with its soaring, geometric peak. Together, they represent a magnificent regional golden age when transport infrastructure was treated as fine art, giving the north-west of England some of the most dramatic public architecture in Europe.

Our brand new Forton Services Pennine Tower Collection celebrates the pure, retro-futuristic energy of this beloved roadside giant. Featuring our signature, highly detailed illustrations, this curated range of premium art posters, t-shirts, totes, and mugs lets you carry a piece of Britain’s greatest space-age dream.

If you want to complete the ultimate Lancashire modernist pairing, you can seamlessly explore the sweeping, heroic forms of its sister landmark via our dedicated Preston Bus Station Collection.