Motorway Services Online

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Telegraph Hill services

Location:

A380 at the top of Telegraph Hill
(also accessible to traffic on the A38)

Signposted from the road.

Postcode:

EX6 7XX

map and directions

Access/Layout:

Series of sites arranged around a junction.


One of several facilities available to traffic in the Haldon area of Devon, Telegraph Hill features a petrol station and diner arranged around a flyover on the A380.

Facilities

Catering: The Haldon Grill Outdoor Space: Grass verge in front of forecourt; public footpath connection Forecourt: Texaco, Londis, Costa Express, f'real Milkshakes, Rollover, Tango Ice Blast, LPG (FloGas), Jet Wash

Parking Prices

Short stay customer parking is available for cars. No HGV parking is available.

This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.

Contact Details

🏢 Address:
Telegraph Hill
Exeter
Devon
EX6 7XX


Trivia and History

Little Chef and Texaco building sketch.
A sketch of the service area in 1982.

The Haldon Chalet and garage were built at the crossroads at the top of Telegraph Hill. These two buildings still exist, but are no longer visible from the A380 and are part of the larger Haldon Chalets site.

The A380 was upgraded to a dual carriageway in the late 1970s. By 1979 a new Texaco petrol station and Little Chef restaurant had been built on each side of the road. The northbound Little Chef was built to the south of the petrol station.

An abandoned and overgrown car park.
The former southbound Little Chef overlooks the current northbound site.

Both restaurants closed in the 1980s, as did the southbound petrol station. It became the Smuggler's Rest Cafe, which was part of the Four Seasons Estate caravan park. There were several plans to develop this into a comprehensive service area, as well as a proposal in 1999 to build a new Little Chef on the site of the old northbound one.

The Smuggler's Rest Cafe was closed in the 1990s, and the site was demolished. There are still several plans to build a new service area here, with some providing access onto the A380 and others onto the side road. The most recent plan is for a Starbucks Drive Thru.

The northbound petrol station changed to Jet, but returned to Texaco in around 2008.

The forecourt's current owners, MFG, extended the sales building in 2020. The shop was rebranded from Hursts to Londis and a jet wash was added to the forecourt.

New Interchange

The Haldon Chalet Junction was a notorious accident black spot, but this was resolved with the construction of a new flyover in 2005. The northbound petrol station was unchanged by the work, but the new road layout caused its entrance to move from a direct connection to the A380 to a slip road from the new junction. The old route back to the A380 still exists, as well as the option of a new exit back to the junction.

As a result of the new road layout, signs were erected to advise northbound traffic that the entrance to the petrol station is now down the new slip road, and to advise traffic on both sides that all facilities are now fully accessible via the new flyover. For reasons that are unclear, these road signs are not standard and refuse to call the facilities "services".

Alternatives

Previous:Next:
Kennford (A38, 1 mile)
Services on the A380none