The group
has its roots in Springhill College Bromley Kent, where a group of students
decided to organise a trip to Russia in 1964. An ex-London Transport single deck
bus (TD 95) JXC 288 was purchased for the trip.
In 1965 one of the organisers, John Shearman, bought the vehicle for
preservation. Being a pennyless student the vehicle had to earn its keep, so a
student trip to Spain was planned to help achieve this goal.
This holiday proved so successful that the decision to purchase a second vehicle
for an ambitious tour of eastern European countries was planned for 1966.
In September 1965 LEV 917 joined JXC 288 for this marathon trip. This was the
last time the TD was used abroad, however LEV 917 continued to be used until
1969 for extensive annual holidays throughout Europe.
A hard core of eight people responsible for organising the trips evolved into
Springhill Vehicle Group and have for the past 39 years maintained and restored
"LEV" to a full PSV standard.
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