STOP OFF
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The Hollis
The welcome could have been brighter and the sausages might have been warmed up but at least Cannock's A5 Truckstop provided our roving gourmet with a plentiful platter for his money.
Sam in Swindon had praised the quality, but for Tom in Taunton it was the quantity on the plate that mattered. Both drivers had suggested the A5 Truckstop as a stopover worth a visit on the next north-bound trip.
Refreshment is provided by the Hollies Cafe. It stands on the easily found site near Cannock, less than two miles south of the .112 interchange with the M6. On any damp day, a visitor's first impression is likely to be marred because although the parking area looks capable of accommodating around 100 trucks, it has no hard standing. The main drawback is that the many patrons this stop-off attracts leave their own particular impressions behind in the form of large Footprints across the floor.
It was a busy lunchtime on just one of those days. The weather had put me in the mood for a nice hot mug of tea, but I wasn't keen to have either of the two already on the counter. Had they been left by a previous customer?
Apparently they had just been poured, came the cool reply. Despite not having witnessed this historical event, in the absence of any alternative offer, I took one. Its temperature failed to improve on the warmth of the assistant's response. The mixed grill at 23.50 was my choice from a varied menu. I was keen to see how the chef proposed to fit the chips, peas, tomatoes, burger, bacon, egg, black pudding, sausage and fried bread on the plate. I half expected an ambush by the Vehicle Inspectorate's canteen division for an overloading offence. I needn't have worried. My selection was
announced very quickly and I collected a meal which was well distributed on a plate which looked to be between 12 and 14 inches wide. It was accompanied by a round of bread and spread.
A shortage of moisture in the burger, black pudding and sausage departments suggested a prolonged warming session had preceded my arrival. Although the chips, bacon and egg helped restore the chef's reputation, I Felt inclined to sympathise with Tom's theory about volume rather than Sam's idea of good quality. However, Chas Tuiton, the Pulleyn's Transport driver had also just finished a mixed grill. While he agreed in part with my assessment he has been a patron on and off For some 18 years. He says he gets exactly what he comes for. 'There's plenty of it, and you con get a meal here 24 hours a day," he said. Loyalty was certainly one of the orders of the day, as many of the drivers taking lunch had done so regularly over a long period. Rob Hooper, for example, was making his third trip of the week on a bottled gas delivery run and has been a regular visitor to the Hollies for some 20 years...he claims to have had some trouble in the recent past with his weight... He had chosen the braised steak option, for which he had little else but praise. At £3.50 it included roast potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, peas and beans. As with mine, the price included the mug of tea. An overnight stop with a sleeper cab will cost 25 and the A5 truckstop has 30 rooms. Bed, breakfast and overnight parkin seems a snip at 212, but unfortunati inspection of the residential block an washrooms was not possible on this occasion, making assessment impossible. Other amenities include a television room, and an accessory shop which sells parts for CB rigs, emergency items such as fuses and bulbs, as well as the usual array of sweets and magazines.
L Sound-off returns next week.