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Enterprising Romford • Operator Organizes First Pilgrimage Service to Lourdes : Scope for Others
says Andrew Seacombe
(Below) Fr. R. McGuinness, the spiritual director, blessing the coaches before the pilgrims leave for Lourdes. On the left is Capt. E. W. de Kerckhove.
VERY year, some 15,000 Roman Catholics leave Britain on pilgrimages to places on the Continent with religious associations, such as Rome, Lourdes and Lisieux in France. and Fatima in Portugal. On some occasions, such as the Holy Year of 1950, when Rome was the focal point of Catholics all over the world, this number is greatly increased.
Lourdes will be a big attraction for pilgrims in 1958, the centenary year of the Apparitions of Our Lady to St. Bernadette. and millions of Catholics are expected to take part in the celebrations which will then be held in the town. The number of British Catholics who take part in these pilgrimages shows that this aspect of coach travel presents a virtually untapped source of revenue for operators, for the Catholic community of England. Scotland and Wales numbers nearly 4m., and the majority of those who travel today does so by rail and sea, office of St. Christopher cal& situated in the heart ty* London's shopping The hooking and inquit y Catholic Tours is strategifirst pilgrimage by. coach this year organized their from England is the or by air. A company who have centre. Here, M. H. .R. Victory Omnibus Co., de Kerckhove is seen Ltd., Romford, Essex. discussing the Lourdes pilLast Sunday saw the grimage with an inquirer. successful completion of the first Victory coach pilgrimage to Lourdes,, and another four are scheduled for the same destination before the end of October.
The demand for this type of tour is indicated in the figures I have given. It may be argued that the pilgrimages officially organized by the various dioceses go a tong way to satisfying it, but the experience of Victory Omnibus Co. shows that many more people would participate if The comparative luxury of door-to-door travel afforded by the coach were available. •
ln recent years, this company have on numerous occasions carried pilgrims under private-hire arrangements to both Lourdes and Rome. It was on the basis of this experience that they applied early this year for permission to run a service to Lourdes.
Not having themselves the specialized knowledge and organization required for this type of operation, the Victory company approached St. Christopher Catholic Tours, 32 Maddox Street, Regent Street, London, W.1, with the suggestion that they should act as booking agents and attend to hotel bookings, and this arrangement is working to their mutual satisfaction. ..
St. Christopher Tours began o.ganizing pilgrimages to Continental shrines in 1950, when rail and sea, or air transport, were used almost exclusively. In some instances, however, locally owned coaches were used from such rail centres as Paris and Rome.
The manager of St. Christopher Tours, Capt. E. W. de Kerckhove, told me that in the early days of these pilgrimages some 75 per cent. of their patrons were visitors from Ireland, but the British ratio had now increased to about half.
Many pilgrims from farther afield were alio carried, the majority coming from the predominantly Catholic country of Trinidad. A substantial number also emanates from the U.S.A., Australia, South Africa, India and Jamaica.
Bookings for pilgrimages by patrons in these countries are made
through local contacts of St. Christopher Tours, but the volume of business from Trinidad is such that they are considering opening an office there. There are established'
tepresentatives in Dublin and Paris.
Victory Omnibus are running two coaches on each of the tours. These are both based on Dennis Lancet chassis and have 35-seat bodies, one of Whitson manufacture and the other of Burlingham Seagull design.
Although the operators are providing a driver-courier for each of the vehicles—one of them is a director of the company, Mr. G. A. I.. Dawson—the men's duties are limited by the nature of the tours. Apart from the specialized knowledge required of couriers on a pilgrimage, it is customary for the party to be accompanied by a spiritual director, and the priest who performs this function usually combines it with that of guide.
The spiritual directors employed
by St. Christopher Tours are casual contacts of the concern; there is no official connection on this matter with the authorities of the dioceses in which the priestt serve.
The nine-day pilgrimages run by Victory Omnibus start from Brentwood on Friday evenings, returning on Sunday evenings. There are picking-up points at Rornford and Westminster.
Friday night is spent on the sea crossing from Dover to Dunkirk, and after passing through Amiens and Rouen, the pilgrimage proper begins at Lisieux, where St. Theresa of the Little Flower spent her life. Lourdes is reached late on Monday afternoon.
Mass Each Morning Throughout the tour, Mass is said for the pilgrims each morning by the spiritual director. During the three days in Lourdes, all religious ceremonies and devotions are under the guidance of the priest accompanying the party.
The cost of the tour —which is inclusive—depends on the quality of hotel chosen by the pilgrims in Lourdes, where there is a choice of three. The basic cost is £29 8s., the alternatives being £32 Os. 6d., and £33 is. 6d. All hotels it is proposed to use are visited by Capt. de Kerck hove before bookings are made.
Next year, Victory Omnibus hope to run two coaches to Lourdes fortnightly from Easter to October, the traffic manager, Mr. R. V. J. Burgess, told me.
That company, an associate of Gidea Park Coaches, Ltd., of the same address, was acquired by the latter in the early 1940s. Directors of both are Mr. G. H. Betts (managing) and Mr.. Dawson.
Daily Express Services
In addition to the coaches already mentioned, Victory Omnibus run another Dennis Lancet with a Yeates 35-seat body. Gidea Park Coaches have four A.E.C.s, all 35-seaters, and a Maudslay 33-seater.
Daily express services to Portsmouth and Southsea, with a pickingup point in London, are run from Romford by Victory Omnibus. They also operate, in association with Gidea Park Coaches, tours and excursions to Ascot, Newmarket, Epsom and Goodwood.
Gidea Park Coaches have daily express services to Margate, Ramsgate and Felixstowe, and run tours and excursions to Windsor, Whipsnade and to various race meetings.