Kent County Agricultural Society’s Heritage Transport Show and Auction on Saturday 31st March 2012 will pay homage to the AEC Centenary. The event at the Kent Showgound, Maidstone will be one of many celebrations throughout the Country to honour AEC buses, lorries, coaches and engines manufactured from 1912 until 1979.
Roland Graves from Vigo, Kent has been interested in buses for as long as he can remember and was fascinated by them as a small child. As he grew older, this fascination turned in to a desire to preserve the vehicles. This journey must be familiar for most people who now have a passion for commercials. It was during Roland’s time at Wrotham Young Farmers Club that he met a like-minded individual Rob Durrant who had just purchased a 1948 ex London Transport AEC Regent III. RT 542. Together they set about their first refurbishment project in 1975.
Over the next few years the duo purchased two more buses a single and a double decker, although once Rob married his commitments increased so two of their buses were sold. Roland kept a Leyland PD1, which came from Barton’s of Nottingham. This particular bus was unusual because it was originally manufactured as a single decker but was re-bodied as a double decker with a low bridge body in the mid 50’s.
In 1978 Roland and eight other enthusiasts founded The North Kent Vehicle Preservation Group, which now boasts 25 members, 10 buses and a collection of vintage cars and vans. His enthusiasm for vintage vehicles does not end with the group he helped to form. In the mid 90’s he became involved with the Heritage Transport Show and Auction’s predecessor, The Detling Steam Rally that took place at the Kent Showground during the summer months until 2006. His role as a steward at the Detling Steam Rally and Kent County Show and his committee involvement with the Heritage Transport Show is something that Roland enjoys immensely. He could not attend the first of the re-branded Transport Shows in 2010 due to a clash with an event that the North Kent Vehicle Preservation Group was helping to organise at Cobham Bus Museum in Surrey.
In 2011 he was very much involved when the Heritage Transport Show linked with Maidstone & District Bus Company’s Centenary. Roland saw a wonderful opportunity to have a large number of buses in one place; in fact in the end there were around 140 buses and coaches at the site in Detling. Roland explained, “The Showground at Detling is an ideal venue for a big show where enthusiasts enjoy talking to the public as well as other commercial vehicle owners. It is wonderful to exhibit and quite often we will get approached with charmingly nostalgic stories from the general public who remember travelling on particular buses”.
It is such a shame that there isn’t the same interest from younger generations for these wonderful commercial vehicles as there is with vintage cars. Many of the stalwarts involved with commercial vehicles painstakingly restore these majestic vehicles themselves, part by part and can take years to complete. The Historic Commercial Vehicle Society are looking to address this problem and events like the Heritage Transport Show and Auction is a good way to talk to visitors and hopefully spark an interest with a younger audience.
Without doubt one of the most popular attractions is the ability to run the buses at the Showground. Last year visitors queued at stops around the 72-acre site to take a ride on a variety of buses and coaches, single and double decker as well as some fine open top exhibits. Owners are able to take passengers on a real trip down memory lane.
Roland now has part ownership of two commercial vehicles; the first being a 1963 AEC Reliance Coach that spent most of its working life locally in Sevenoaks, Kent for Camden Coaches. With its blue and white livery, the fully restored coach is the only remaining vehicle from the Camden fleet. His other bus is a 1958 Albion Lowlander from South Notts Bus Co. Nottingham, where the co-owner actually drove the bus as a way of earning money whilst studying at Loughborough University.
Roland’s newest passion is for a 1950 Lanchester LD10 which has featured in two editions of Kelsey’s publications once in August 2004 and again in September 2006. This unique vehicle caught Roland’s eye whilst holidaying in Wroxham, Norfolk. The small commercial van was tucked away in the corner of a classic car showroom and after returning home and doing some research, Roland took possession of the little green van in November 2002. The van had been built for Gordon Thoday, a Haberdashery firm who used the vehicle to deliver supplies to a number of its stores in and around the Cambridge area. This particular vehicle is unusual in the fact that it has a fluid flywheel and a pre-select gearbox more commonly found in larger commercial vehicles such as the original London Transport RT bus that started it all back in 1975.
Roland will be using his van as one of the support vehicles for the Heritage Transport Show and Auction on 31st March and will also be working with Maidstone and District and East Kent Bus Clubs to help celebrate their 60th Anniversary.
