SUCCESS THROUGH ENTHUSIASM
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"TT COULDN'T have happened at any other point in history; we were in the right place at the right time." These were the words of Dr. H. N. Heffernan, describing the beginnings of what is now Thames Weald Ltd.
In 1961, at a time when London Transport was cutting back on its uneconomical rural routes, a County Councillor and Dartford Rural Councillor, Mr. Cranley Onslow, decided that the gap left by the withdrawal of the London Transport West Kingsdown to Dartford service would have to be filled. With this in mind, he pui a notice in the window of Fawkham Posi Office calling for the signatures of those who would support a local bus servict operating fortnightly shopping trips tc Gravesend.
The reaction to this notice persuadec Mr. Onslow and Dr. Heffernan, a life-lonf transport enthusiast, to hire a mini-bus fo; this purpose. Thus the first "independent' bus concern to operate in the Kent are served by London Transport came int( being.
It was not long, however, before Londo; Transport became aware of this "pirate' service, and had one of its inspectors travc inconspicuously on a shopping trip. Th inspector reported to the Traffic Comis sioner that fares were being taken on an unlicensed service; the legal aspects of p.s.v. operation were duly explained by a man from the Ministry.
It would have taken more than this discovery, though, to discourage Dr. Heffernan, who by now was taking the leading part in this venture. The way to avoid being faced with the unenviable choice of either operating illegally or not operating at all seemed to Dr. Heffernan an obvious one: to operate as a society. And so the Thames Weald Travel Society was born.
No longer were fares collected en route. Instead, members of the Society paid monthly subscriptions irrespective of whether they used the bus regularly or not. These subscriptions were collected by members living at intervals of about a mile between Gravesend and Sevenoaks; the same members acted as the Society's public relations officers, broadcasting news of fresh routes the Society had decided to cover, or changes in timetables which had been planned.
The Society, however, was to be shortlived, for in December of 1961 Dr. Heffernan obtained a road service licence and later that month he and his wife became the directors of Thames Weald Ltd.; respectability had now come to the pirate, and with respectability, the chance to offer an essential service to more people.
In 1962, the company purchased its first bus, a 12-seater Commer with p.s.v. modification by Kenex of Dover, but 1964 was the year which saw most progress in the history of the company. Three new vehicles were acquired, first a 20-seater Bedford J2 with a Plaxton Consort V body, then a 29-seater Bedford with Plaxton Embassy II bodywork and towards the end of the year a 26-seater Guy Vixen with an Eastern Coachworks body.
The company was now ready to begin operation on new routes—provided that the occasion arose where London Transport was willing to grant concessions—and the first innovation came on May 31 with the inauguration of a Sunday service. This operated between Southfleet and Meopham via New Barn, Longfield, Hartley Court and Longfield Hill at two-hourly intervals, connecting at Southfleet with the London Transport Service 489 to and from Gravesend.
This Thames Weald service replaced the previous London Transport services 489a to Meopham and 490 to Hartley Court, but, because it proved to be an uneconomical proposition, it was withdrawn after only some two years in operation. It was the overtime ban instituted by London Transport drivers in 1966 which gave Thames Weald its next opportunity to increase the number of routes it covered. One of the routes London Transport abandoned because of the staff trouble was route 89, which served three hospitals, the Memorial, the Brook and the Royal Herbert. Dr. Heffernan obtained permission to replace this service, but was not allowed to pick up or set down passengers between Blackheath and Shooters Hill as that part of the route was still served by London Transport's 192 service.
After only a month, however, London Transport settled the dispute with its drivers and reinstated its service 89: this, of course, brought to an early end Thames Weald's new venture, but not the determination of those running the company.
On May 13 1967 the London Transport 399 service, which ran through Dartford Tunnel, was withdrawn because of lack of support. Thames Weald received London Transport's consent to operate a 31 mile service which would link Sevenoaks, Dartford, Hornchurch and Romford, and consequently was granted a licence to run the service by the Metropolitan Traffic Commissioner.
Dr. Heffernan saw his company taking part in "the biggest little transport revolution in 40 years", linking as it did, the commuter towns which the Green Line buses served. The Green Line routes were like spokes, all originating in London, but with no peripheral link.
Unless there is a drastic improvement in business within the coming months it is unlikely, according to Dr. Heffernan, that there will be any immediate expansion in the services offered by Thames Weald. Because the company provides a service primarily for those living in comparatively isolated places in the country, it will be difficult for it to plan new routes which are both profitable and avoid infringing on those services already operated by LTB.
The introduction of the breath tests saw a small increase in private hire work, but this was not maintained; people were not prepared to pay the price which Dr. Heffernan felt justified either himself or one of his drivers driving through the dark and tortuous lanes in the dead of night with a cargo possibly including inebriates.
The drivers, of which Thames Weald employ three on a full-time basis, garage the vehicles at their own homes, unless the coaches have to be taken to Dr. Heffernan's home where most of the maintenance is carried out. At one time all maintenance was carried out by public garages, but now the company enlists the services of selfemployed fitters.
Interest in the progress of the company is kept alive by the inclusion in the timetables of news letters. Even though Thames Weald has grown considerably from those early days when fortnightly shopping trips ran furtively between Fawkham and Gravesend, there still remains a strong feeling of companionship between the people who run the service and those for whom the service is being run.