Helen Peacocke is all agog over the fare at a motorway service station

I wonder what the late Egon Ronay would have said had he visited the new visionary service stations which are being built now? Ronay did much to raise the standard of British public catering outlets during the 1950s and 1960s, delivering multi-ple blows to motorway service stations, which he felt served unspeakable rubbish to those in need of refreshments and a break during a long journey.

Which is what brought me to the new Gloucester Services, my friend Bruce Young from Hailey, who prod-uces Shaken Oak mustards stocked in the utopian service station’s farmshop, offering to show me round.

He is one of many food producers invited to discuss his products last year with a view to the farmshop stocking them, if deemed suitable. This proved an extensive interview and Bruce was not informed straight away that his mustards would be given a place alongside products from 130 local suppliers within 30 miles from the shop and 70 regional suppliers that operate within 30 to 50 miles, and he invited me along to have a tour around the utopian motorway services.

He had to wait more than a month to discover he’d been selected. He says he has nev-er experienced anything like it, finding the company’s attention to detail remarkable.

Upton Smokery, who specialise in smoking all manner of unusual products, including smoked salt and pepper, is another Oxford supplier. Nicky Wildman, the food sourcing manager for the service station, says they are always looking for new suppliers so there may be many more from Oxfordshire chosen in time.

Gloucester Services is the newest addition to the Westmorland family business. The family has its roots in the rolling uplands of Cumbria where they set up Tebay Services in partnership with local bakers when the new M6 cut through the Lune Gorge in 1972. The heart of this establishment was a small 30-seat café serving home-cooked, locally-sourced food.

Last year they moved south to a busy motorway on the outskirts of Gloucester, a picturesque area which could have been easily spoiled by the sight of a monstrous collection of shops, cafés and petrol pumps. But it isn’t, thanks to the respect shown by the Westmorland family for the local countryside, and it is not even visible from the M5, between junctions 11a and 12.

The shop opens from 6am to 10pm. The traditional butcher’s counter, where a team of skilled butchers prepare local meat to the customer’s specifications, is open from 7am to 7pm. The meat is superb as it’s allowed to hang for up to three weeks to ensure it is tender, and everything from sirloin to T-bone steaks are cut just as you like them.

If you want your steak to be at least an inch thick, that’s no problem, and if you would fancy taking a little bag of mince home for the cat, that’s fine too. And to save you time, your order can be given 24 hours in advance and collected packed in a cool bag.

As Bruce and I walked into the main building I felt I was entering Harrods food hall. It really took my breath away. The selection of foods on offer is amazing, they even sell home-made biscuits and tinned beef with vegetables for the dog! And the pies! Gosh, how scrumptious they look. There’s even a “celebrity pie” to celebrate its recent starring role on BBC’s Countryfile.

The bread counter stands next to the entrance and close to the fresh vegetables. It is loaded with crusty loaves supplied by award-winning Bertinet from Bath. Made by hand and baked until a glorious caramel crust has formed, Bertinet products contain no additives, no improvers, artificial flavourings or preservatives. It’s real honest bread, the sort you want to spread with loads of butter and lashings of honey and eat immediately.

I’m sure many travellers do indeed munch on the crusts on the way home. (I did). Actually, I ate it with a generous wedge of Jonathan Crump’s Double Gloucester cheese, produced from his herd of rare breed Old Gloucester cows who graze on the edge of the Cotswold hills. A bread-and-cheese combination made in heaven.

I shouldn’t have been hungry, however, as we had enjoyed a fantastic home-made meal in the restaurant area before leaving. Everything on the menu is prepared and cooked on the premises and served by staff who do not stop smiling. There’s a snack and takeaway food counter too.

Work is being undertaken on a similar service station on the southbound side of the M5. An underground tunnel will connect the two establishments, but that’s for staff only. If all goes to plan, the service station will open in early spring and offer everything you can purchase now plus a conference room.

All we need is for the Westmorlands to set their sights on Oxfordshire, but in the meantime our local suppliers are doing us proud.