There are only three days to go until an award-winning Cumbrian motorway services is set to be the star of a new Channel 4 series.
Tebay Services, alongside the M6, is the focus of the series A Lake District Farm Shop, that will broadcast from July 10.
The series will follow key members of staff and the Cumbrian farmers and producers who rally to maintain the family-owned business that has been a cherished pitstop for holidaymakers, truckers and road trippers for nearly 50 years.
We meet some of the producers who have helped make Tebay Services one of the best in the country.
The butcher
Master butcher Dave Morland lives and breathes the “nose to tail” ethos of the Tebay Services’ butchery and its close relationship with the Dunning family’s farm.
Dave is Tebay born and bred and his passion for inspiring the next generation of butchers is followed throughout the series, from teaching apprentice butchers to sharing lessons in sausage making at Tebay school.
Dave works closely with farm manager Bob Day to ensure the regular supply of native-breed beef, lamb and Herdwick mutton from the farm to Tebay Services, where it is served in the Kitchen – including as part of Dave’s favourite Sunday lunch – and sold on the traditional butchers’ counter in the Farmshop.
In keeping with its ethos of minimising waste and respecting every part of the animal, Tebay even processes its own sheepskins.
Dave brings them back from the abattoir, salts them in a special salting shed on the farm and takes them to a traditional tannery, where they are turned into rugs and footstools to sell in the Farmshop.
The baker
Chef-turned-artisan baker Patrick Moore is recognised as one of the most innovative bakers in his industry.
Having inherited a love of real, slow-fermented bread from his German mother, he founded More? The Artisan Bakery with a mission to bring to a wider audience the same quality of bread that he was baking in the kitchens of leading Lake District country-house hotels.
Tebay Services Farmshop was one of Patrick’s very first retail outlets and his business has grown alongside the services.
Patrick takes his inspiration from the landscapes of the Lakes.
He talks about the enduring relationship between supplier and Tebay both equally committed to the quality of our daily bread, be it in a sourdough loaf or a bacon buttie.
More about A Lake District Farmshop
A Lake District Farmshop goes out with a zesty flourish. Read more here.
Meet the record-breaking potter who stars in episode two here.
1.4 million people tune in to the first episode – read about the reaction here.
Find out more about A Lake District Farm Shop here
And find out how COVID-19 resulted in sushi and ramen being an integral part of Tebay Services here.
