The History of the Bere Regis Bus Co. 1929 - 1995

The Bere Regis Bus Co. was established in 1929 with a humble fleet of just three buses. Founded by William Thompson, a local entrepreneur with a passion for transportation, the company aimed to provide reliable and affordable public transportation services to the residents of Bere Regis, a small village in Dorset, England.

In its early years, the bus company faced numerous challenges, including the Great Depression and the rationing period during World War II. However, the determined Thompson managed to navigate through these difficult times by adapting to the changing demands of the community. The Bere Regis Bus Co. expanded its fleet, introduced more frequent routes, and even offered special services for school children and the elderly.

As the post-war years brought renewed prosperity and an increased need for transportation, the Bere Regis Bus Co. flourished. The company saw steady growth and became an integral part of the village's daily life. It provided a vital link between Bere Regis and neighboring towns, enabling residents to commute for work and leisure activities.

In the 1960s, the Bere Regis Bus Co. underwent a significant modernization effort. The aging buses were replaced with newer, more comfortable models, equipped with the latest technological advancements. This upgrade not only enhanced the passenger experience but also improved the efficiency and reliability of the service.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the Bere Regis Bus Co. faced increasing competition from larger regional and national bus companies. However, it managed to retain its loyal customer base by maintaining its commitment to affordable fares, friendly service, and a personal touch that larger corporations often lacked. The company became known for its familiar faces, as many of its employees had been with the company for decades, forging strong connections with the community.

However, as the 1990s approached, the Bere Regis Bus Co. faced a difficult decision. Rising operating costs, changing regulations, and the advent of privatization in the transportation industry made it increasingly challenging for small independent companies to thrive. After much deliberation, the board of directors reluctantly decided to sell the Bere Regis Bus Co. to a larger conglomerate in 1995.

The acquisition marked the end of an era for the Bere Regis Bus Co., as it became absorbed into a larger regional bus network. While the change brought some improvements, such as newer buses and expanded routes, many in the community mourned the loss of the local touch that had defined the company for over sixty-five years.

Today, the Bere Regis Bus Co. is remembered as a symbol of community spirit and resilience. Its history serves as a reminder of the vital role that public transportation plays in connecting rural communities, bridging distances, and fostering social cohesion. Though the company may no longer exist in its original form, its legacy lives on in the hearts and memories of those who relied on its services for so many years.

The material in this section has been researched by Peter Roberts, Roger Grimley & Henry Frier.

If you wish to find out more please visit the Country Bus Website here.
Thank you for all your hard work & dedication in collating it all.

From humble beginnings on 29th October 1929 - when a bus driver called Reg Toop decided to leave his employer George Vacher and set up in business on his own in competition against him with a Ford Model T 14-seater - this organisation grew to be the largest independent operator in the county of Dorset in postwar years.
Whether by coincidence or as consequence, Vacher sold his business to the expanding Hants & Dorset Motor Services in August 1930, and remained in their employ as the local inspector for many years afterwards.
He died in 1958 at the age of 71.
Vacher had originally traded as Bere Regis Motor Services - the name that Toop then acquired almost by default when it became available, changing it to Bere Regis & District, having previously traded as Pioneer!

One Ford Model T 14 seater - from these humble beginnings on 29th October 1929 this organisation grew to be the largest independent operator in the county of Dorset in postwar years.
The initial routes operated by founder Reg Toop were four in number, namely Bere Regis - Kingston - Zelstone - Poole, Bere Regis - Wareham, Bere Regis - Bloxworth - Wimborne and Zelstone - Bere Regis - Dorchester. In 1930 two Chevrolets joined the fleet to supplement the Model T.
In the same year Toop acquired the market day routes of James Ironside of Winfrith, running from Winfrith to Wareham on Thursdays, Dorchester on Wednesdays and Saturdays and a Saturday service to Weymouth.
In March 1936 the daily route between Poole, Morden, Bloxworth, Bere Regis and Dorchester, established by Israel Davis of Bloxworth in 1926, was brought into the growing business when his son Percy Davis joined with Toop to form a partnership.
A few months later Bill Ironside (whose father's routes from Winfrith had been acquired by Toop six years earlier) also joined the business as a partner.

Between them the three partners, Reg Toop, Percy Davis and Bill Ironside, expanded the fledgling enterprise - largely by acquisition of other businesses, especially during the Second World War - from pre-war market day services to an extensive post-war rural and interurban network with regular daily routes serving Dorchester, Sherborne, Yeovil, Sturminster Newton, Shaftesbury, Blandford and Poole.
Their 1949 timetable booklet showed the complete network of thirty five routes - some ran daily and some ran once a week to market.

Operator and home village	Route(s)	Year of takeover / other information
W J Laws, Briantspuddle	Briantspuddle - Tolpuddle - Dorchester	June 1940 - one Dennis G bus
C E Jeanes, Dorchester	Henley - Piddletrenthide - Dorchester	December 1941 - started 1924 Thornycroft 20-str YC2986 to R&DMS
N Russell, Broadmayne	West Knighton - Broadmayne - Dorchester	December 1941 (included A J Bishop's former service from Broadmayne to Dorchester, taken over by Russell in July 1937)
H Hawker, Piddletrenthide	Plush - Piddletrenthide - Dorchester	1942 Started 1902, motor bus since 1916
F Whitty, Dorchester	Frampton - Stratton - Dorchester	February 1942 (service started by B Cox in 1925, to Mrs R Platt in 1937, to Whitty in 1938)
F Thorne, Cerne Abbas	Minterne Magna - Cerne Abbas - Dorchester	1942 (started in 1873 by Edward Thorne, Frank Thorne from 1908, motor bus since 1913)
E Markey, Winterbourne Steepleton	Little Bredy - Wint. Abbas - Dorchester	June 1942 (part ex-C Ralph in 1932)
L Sprackling, Winterbourne Stickland and Milton Abbas	Milton Abbas - Whitechurch - Blandford Milton Abbas - Dorchester Stickland - Whitechurch - Dorchester Houghton - Stickland - Blandford	September 1942. Trading as Ivory Coaches. started with taxis in 1916. Part ex-T K Bower Milton Abbas 1930. Five vehicles to BR&DMS (1 x Morris 20-str, 3 x Leyland 26-strs, 1 x Leyland 32-str)
G Lugg, Wonston, Hazelbury Bryan	Hazelbury - Dorchester Hazelbury - Sherborne Hazelbury - Yeovil Hazelbury - Sturminster Newton	June 1944 Reo 20-str DV5631 to BR&DMS Chevrolet 14-str DL6997 to BR&DMS
A Pitcher, Litton Cheney	Swyre - Litton Cheney - Dorchester	1944 - one Morris Commercial bus 14-str to BR&DMS
G Churchill, Puncknowle	Puncknowle - Bridport	1944/1945 – one 1929 Ford 13 seater to BR&DMS
C Fripp, Okeford Fitzpaine	Okeford - Blandford Okeford - Manston - Sturminster Newton	January 1945
E J Bale, Hurst	Hurst - Moreton - Tincleton - Dorchester Hurst - Moreton - Winfrith - Wareham	1946 (motor bus started 1925)
G Caundle	Puddletown - Dorchester	1946 (service discontinued 1943 before takeover)
Mrs B H Coombes & Son, Kingston, Hazelbury Bryan	Hazelbury - Sturminster Newton Hazelbury - Ansty - Dorchester Hazelbury - Sherborne Hazelbury - Yeovil	November 1946 Motor bus since 1926 Bedford WLB 20-str AGH961 to BR&DMS
J E Pickett, Buckland Newton	Buck. Newton - Piddletrenthide - Dorchester Buck. Newton - Duntish - Sherborne	1947 - started 1922 Bedford WTL 20-str CMV348 to BR&DMS
V C Little, Marnhull	Marnhull - Plush - Dorchester	1947 (ex-A Trim, Marnhull)
S Harmer, Milton Abbas	Milton Abbas - Dorchester Milton Abbas - Blandford	Spring 1948 Dennis Ace 20-str JB3354 to BR&DMS
H V Fear, Wimborne	(tours and excursions)	1951

Vacher had operated from his home village of Bere Regis since horse drawn days and acquired his first motor bus in 1919.
This was used on routes to Dorchester on Wednesdays and Saturdays and to Poole on Mondays and Thursdays.
By 1927 there were two motor vehicles and additional routes were being run to Blandford, Bournemouth, Wimborne and Wareham.
With regards to the latter destination, Harry Farr was running to Wareham from Bere Regis on Thursdays and Saturdays too, since at least 1920.

The Photo at top is of George Vacher's Bere Regis Motor Service from the late 1920's.
The charabanc was carrying 27 people, plus the driver.
The driver, in the peaked cap is Reg Toop, who in 1929 went on to establish Bere Regis Motor Services, which rapidly built into a large enterprise across Dorset.

Toop drove for Vacher from the age of 14.
To start his own business and buy his first bus, he borrowed money from several people in Bere Regis, including Doctor Liss and Applin the butcher.
The initial routes operated by Toop were:

Bere Regis - Kingston - Zelstone – Lytchett Matravers – Poole (once on Monday and Friday, four times on Saturday and Sunday)

Bere Regis – Bere Heath – Wareham (Thursday and Saturday)

Bere Regis – Bere Heath - Bloxworth – Morden - Wimborne (Tuesday)

Bere Regis – Kingston – Zelstone – Sturminster Marshall – Wimborne (Tuesday)

Zelstone – Kingston -Bere Regis – Dorchester (Wednesday)

Bere Regis – Kingston - Lytchett Matravers – Wareham (presumed Thursday for market but discontinued by 1933).

One might wonder if there were enough passengers in the area to warrant a competitive operation, but this was good bus operating territory.
Bere Regis is a substantial village surrounded by a circle of market towns within a ten to twelve mile radius, and there was a long previous history of horse drawn carrier operations stretching back over the years.
In 1930 two Chevrolets joined the fleet to supplement the Model T.
In the same year Toop the market day routes of James Ironside of Winfrith were acquired:

Winfrith – East Knighton – East Burton – Wool –Wareham (Thursday)

Winfrith – East Knighton – Broadmayne – Dorchester (Wednesday and Saturday)

Winfrith – East Knighton – Poxwell – Weymouth (Saturday evening service added by Toop to existing Tuesday and Friday service)

A picture from 1936.
Shortly after Mr Ironside joined with Mr Toop, beside their Leyland Bus YG7085 while out on a coach trip. At the left is Bill Ironside and on the right Fred Hann, the driver, who was later a publican in Wimborne.

From reports in the local press at the time, Toop's operations were alleged to sometimes run with a scant regard for such niceties as the route specified in his road service licence!
In March 1936 the daily route between Poole, Morden, Bloxworth, Bere Regis and Dorchester, established in 1926, was brought into the growing business when Davis of Bloxworth joined the partnership.
These were the routes run by Davis:

Morden – Bloxworth - Bere Regis – Kingston – Almer – Lytchett Matravers – Wimborne (Tuesday)

Bloxworth – Morden – Wareham (Thursday)

Morden – Bloxworth - Bere Regis – Kingston – Almer – Spetisbury – Blandford (Thursday)

Poole – Lytchett Matravers – Morden – Bloxworth – Bere Regis – Dorchester

(weekdays Poole – Bere Regis; Wednesday and Saturday on from Bere Regis to Dorchester)

Hants & Dorset had considered purchasing the Davis business, but the purchase did not proceed because the revenue on the main Poole-Dorchester route was below cost and unsustainable.
After the negotiations failed the frequency of the service was reduced.

A few months later Bill Ironside (whose father's routes from Winfrith had been acquired by Toop six years earlier) also joined the business as a partner.

Bill had driven for his father Jim since the age of 15, and was to become the driving force in developing and running the Bere Regis & District business.
With the setting up of the partnership there was some rationalisation of the routes, which were intertwined to some degree. These are the 1936 routes, together with the road service licence numbers allocated to them by the Western Traffic Area office:

Bere Regis – Bere Heath - Bloxworth – Morden – Lytchett Matravers -Wimborne (Tuesday) H4174

Winfrith – East Knighton – East Burton – Wool –Wareham (Thursday) H4175

Bere Regis - Kingston - Zelstone – Worlds End – Morden – Poole (once Monday and Friday, three Saturday, four Sunday) H4176

Winfrith – East Knighton – Broadmayne – Dorchester (Wednesday and Saturday)          H4177

Winfrith – East Knighton – Poxwell – Weymouth (Saturday and Public Holidays)            H4178

Zelstone – Kingston -Bere Regis – Dorchester (Wednesday) H4179

Bere Regis – Bere Heath – Wareham (Thursday and Saturday) H4204

Poole – Lytchett Matravers – Morden – Bloxworth – Bere Regis (four times each weekday) H4205

Bere Regis – Affpuddle - Dorchester (Wednesday and Saturday) H4205

Click the images above to look at the 1936 Timetables

Between them the three partners, Reg Toop, Percy Davis and Bill Ironside, expanded the fledgling enterprise - largely by acquisition of other businesses, especially during the Second World War - from pre-war market day services to an extensive post-war rural and interurban network with regular daily routes serving Dorchester, Sherborne, Yeovil, Sturminster Newton, Shaftesbury, Blandford and Poole.
The first wartime acquisition was the business of W J Laws in June 1940, and his route from Briantspuddle, Tolpuddle and Puddletown to Dorchester was added to the growing network.
During the war the smaller operators faced many difficulties; extra passengers had to be carried, a scarcity of fuel and resources, and time expired vehicles in need of replacement.
Bere Regis and District Motor Services were ever ready to buy up routes to expand their network.

After the war the medley of radial village services was melded into a comprehensive network of interurban services across mid-Dorset.
From a one vehicle operation in 1929, by 1945 the fleet size had reached 40 vehicles.

It was also now necessary to turn attention to renewing the vehicle fleet.
This started in 1946 with the delivery of ten new Bedford OB's as well as a mix of second hand vehicles, including two ex-Chester Leyland Titan TD4s, AFM518/519, which were the firm's first double-deckers.
These were usually employed on the Bere Regis - Poole, Bere Regis - Dorchester and Dorchester - Sherborne routes (services 1, 1a, 2 and 4 in the 1949 list of routes reproduced below).
A further Titan TD2 YG710 followed in 1948, and it is thought three ex-London STLs were acquired in 1954.
The only other double deckers operated by the company were two more modern looking 1947 Leyland PD1s that were acquired in 1949 from Hants & Sussex (FCG526/527) and were in the fleet until 1960.

In the post war years, the routes from Dorchester to Sherborne and from Bere Regis to Poole were busy enough to warrant double deck operation.
Waiting at the Kingland Road terminus in Poole, on route 1 to Bere Regis via Lytchett Matravers and Bloxworth, is a rather dirty Leyland Titan TD4 AFM519 (see below).
This was of 1936 vintage and was one half of a pair purchased in 1946 from Chester.
I used to see the lunchtime departure from Poole to Bere Regis on a daily basis when I attended Poole Grammar School, until the Poole routes passed to Hants and Dorset in 1959.

Another regular performer was ex-Hants & Sussex FCG527 (see below), seen here at the other end of route 1, freshly washed and glistening in the sunshine in the Bere Regis depot yard.
This was a Leyland PD1 with Northern Coachbuilders 55-seater lowbridge body, and was new to Hants & Sussex in 1947.

The route map below shows the network of Bere Regis bus routes in 1956.
Many of the routes on the map are market-day type services only running on one or two days a week.
The daily routes were 1 Poole - Bere Regis, 1A Bere Regis - Dorchester, 4 Dorchester - Sherborne, 5 Dorchester - Yeovil, 6 Dorchester - Sturminster Newton, 16 Blandford - Okeford Fitzpaine, 17 Shaftesbury - Woolland and 18 Yeovil - Sturminster Newton.
(NB Some of the services have been renumbered from those given in the list of routes from the 1949 timetable above, as by 1956 routes 7 20 22 24 28 29 33 34 and 35 had been withdrawn (using the 1949 numbers!)).
Note also that Wimborne is no longer served by any bus route (although there was still a garage there at the time).
The motif illustrated was used by Bere Regis for many years.

The vehicles were painted in a livery of mid and dark brown, from which came the 'brown bombers' nickname we used as children in Dorset.
The livery came from the three partners, the dark brown from Toop, the other brown from Ironside and the red around the windows from Davis (whose own buses had been red).
The halcyon years for bus operations were post-war in the late 1940's and early 1950's.
There were also substantial numbers of school and works contracts as well as a wide range of private hire work. As the years went by, the coaching types of operation would become progressively more important than bus services.
In July 1959 the daily trunk services from Bere Regis to Poole (routes 1 and 2) and Dorchester (routes 1a and 3) were sold to Hants & Dorset, who had also operated over the 1 and 2 routes for many years with their services 91 and 90 respectively (inherited from the George Vacher takeover in 1930).
Tickets of the two companies had not been interavailable.
Whereas Bere Regis had provided the majority of the timings on the route to Poole via Bloxworth (1 / 91), the opposite was true on the route via Kingston and Zelstone (2 / 90). H&D increased the frequency of their timings to compensate for the loss of the Bere Regis services, and also introduced new route 11a from Bere Regis to Dorchester to replace the old 1a and 3.
By now the focus of Bere Regis operations had moved away from the village in which it had been founded, westwards towards the county town of Dorchester - a town which had always been at the centre of independent bus operation in Dorset.

This was the first postwar booklet that was issued for the network of services that had been built up, largely through acquisitions of various business during the war years.
Many of the previous 'radial' market services had been combined into interurban routes, eg Dorchester - Sherborne.
The map on the front cover shows the many parts of Dorset reached by the firm's 35 routes - which are shown in the list of Stage Services below.

Click the images above to have a look at the 1949 Timetable Booklet

By 1961 the fleet size had grown to 92 vehicles including AEC Regal (plus a solitary Reliance); Bedford OB and SB (also two OWB's); Commer, Daimler, Dennis and Maudslay; and Leyland Tigers, Tiger Cubs and Royal Tigers - but still with a preponderance of second hand vehicles.
This grand total of 92 included 5 minibus 11-seaters (two Bedford CAV / Martin Walker and three Morris J2), all the other vehicles in the fleet at this time were coaches except for one solitary bus, LWR377, a 1951 36-seater Duple bodied Daimler Freeline, which had come to Bere Regis from Ledgards of Yorkshire in 1960.
Twelve of the fourteen Bedford SB's had Plaxton bodies and were new to the firm in 1959 and 1960.

Column1	Column2	Column3	Column4
H4205	1 Bere Regis - Poole	same	withdrawn 7/59
H4205	1a Bere Regi s- Dorchester	same	withdrawn 7/59
H4176	2 Bere Regis - Poole	same	withdrawn 7/59
H4179	3 Zelstone - Dorchester	same	withdrawn 7/59
H7436	4 Dorchester - Sherborne	same	now route 1	same	see H16950 below
H7813	5 Dorchester - Yeovil	same	now route 2	curtailed at Sherborne	see H15264 below
H7814	6 Dorchester - Stur Newton	same	now route 3	same	same
H7386	7 Dorchester - Henley	same	merged with H7814
H8085	8 Dorchester - Sherborne	same	withdrawn 1/57
H7358	9 Dorchester – Bridport	same	now route 7	withdrawn 8/67
H7392	10 Dorchester – Little Bredy	same	now route 6	extended to Litton Cheney	see H16901 below
H7383	11 Dorchester - Frampton	same	now route 4	same	withdrawn 7/75
H7482	12 Dorchester - East Knighton	same	now route 5	withdrawn 12/64
H7990	13 Dorchester-Bovington Camp	same	now route 8	same	same
H7991	14 Dorchester - Hurst	same	now route 9	same	same
H7390	15 Dorchester - Came	same	now route 10	same	same
H7357	16 Okeford - Blandford	same	now route 13	same	see H15817 below
H7359	17 Woolland – Shaftesbury	same	now route 14	same	see H15817 below
H7812	18 Stur Newton – Yeovil	same	now route 15	same	see H15265 below
H7810	19 Stur Newton-Bsps Caundle	same	withdrawn 1958
H3981	20 Kingston – Wimborne	withdrawn 9/52
H4204	21 Bere Regis-Hyde-Wareham	now route 20	now route 21	same	withdrawn 1964
H7387	22 Bere-Bloxworth-Wareham	withdrawn 9/52
H3965	23 Hazelbury – Dorchester	now route 21	withdrawn 1957
H4175	24 Winfrith - Wareham	withdrawn 9/52
H4178	25 Winfrith – Weymouth	now route 22	withdrawn 1959
H7815	26 Whitchurch – Dorchester	see H10103 below
H8008	27 Whitchurch – Blandford	now route 23	see H12851 below
H7388	28 Puddletown – Dorchester	withdrawn 1951
H7402	29 Piddlehinton - Dorchester	not listed in t/t	now route 11	not listed in t/t
H7415	30 Marnhull – Stur Newton	now route 25	now route 17	same	see H17418 below
H7811	31 Marnhull – Dorchester	now route 26	now route 16	same	same
H7302	32 Milton Abbas – Blandford	see H10103 below
H7381	33 Hurst – Wareham	withdrawn 9/52
H4068	34 Buck Newton – Weymouth	not listed in t/t
H7564	35 Bloxworth - Blandford	27 Almer-Blandford	now route 20	curtailed to start at Bere Regis	same
H8529	New spring 1950	28 Marnhull-Stur Ntn	now route 18	withdrawn 1964
H10103	New summer 1953	29 Dorchester – Milton Abbas - Blandford	now route 12 (H12851)	same	see H15125 below
H12365		New summer 1959	19 Lillington - Sherborne	same	same
H15125				New 1971	Houghton/Clenston - Blandford
H15264				New 1971	Dorchester - Pulham
H15265				New 1971	Sherborne - Holwell
H15817				New 7/72	Woolland -Blandford
H16901				New 1975	Swyre - Dorchester
H16950				New 7/75	Dorchester-Sherborne
H17418				New 8/76	Gillingham-Stur Nwtn

A new central depot and workshop were established in 1964 on the Poundbury Industrial Estate in Dorchester, as successor to the original Bridport Road base in the county town (which had been acquired when Whitty's business was taken over in 1942). By 1966 there were 89 vehicles in the by now exclusively single deck fleet - of which 58 were Bedfords. Still over sixty per cent were second hand purchases and the policy at the time was to run vehicles into the ground.
During the 1960's and 1970's some of the long established bus routes were withdrawn and operations handed over to other operators on the same road, eg Ironside's original service Dorchester - Winfrith - East Knighton passed to Dorset Queen in 1965 and Dorchester - Frampton passed to Pearce in 1975.

Percy Davis was the first of the three partners to die, on 19th May 1964 aged 56, and he is buried in St Andrews churchyard in Bloxworth.
Next to go to the big bus garage in the sky in 1970 was the firm's Managing Partner for many years, Bill Ironside.
This left the firm in the hands of the original founder Reg Toop, who as last of the three partners died in 1973.
Reg is remembered by Mervyn House of Mid-Dorset Coaches as someone who would help anybody.
Following Reg's death, during the 1970's and 1980's, whilst the trading name remained Bere Regis & District, the operating licences were held in the name of 'the trustees of R W Toop deceased'.
Reg's widow Ethel left the day-to-day management of the business in the capable hands of Traffic Manager Maurice Crocker (who died in 1982) and General Manager Ray Roper, both of whom had worked for the firm for many many years.

One Ford Model T 14 seater - from these humble beginnings on 29th October 1929 this organisation grew to be the largest independent operator in the county of Dorset in postwar years.
The initial routes operated by founder Reg Toop were four in number, namely Bere Regis - Kingston - Zelstone - Poole, Bere Regis - Wareham, Bere Regis - Bloxworth - Wimborne and Zelstone - Bere Regis - Dorchester.
In 1930 two Chevrolets joined the fleet to supplement the Model T.
In the same year Toop acquired the market day routes of James Ironside of Winfrith, running from Winfrith to Wareham on Thursdays, Dorchester on Wednesdays and Saturdays and a Saturday service to Weymouth.

In March 1936 the daily route between Poole, Morden, Bloxworth, Bere Regis and Dorchester, established by Israel Davis of Bloxworth in 1926, was brought into the growing business when his son Percy Davis joined with Toop to form a partnership.
A few months later Bill Ironside (whose father's routes from Winfrith had been acquired by Toop six years earlier) also joined the business as a partner.
Between them the three partners, Reg Toop, Percy Davis and Bill Ironside, expanded the fledgling enterprise - largely by acquisition of other businesses, especially during the Second World War - from pre-war market day services to an extensive post-war rural and interurban network with regular daily routes serving Dorchester, Sherborne, Yeovil, Sturminster Newton, Shaftesbury, Blandford and Poole.
Their 1949 timetable booklet showed the complete network of thirty five routes - some ran daily and some ran once a week to market.

List of Operators taken over by the Bere Regis Bus. Co.

One Ford Model T 14 seater - from these humble beginnings on 29th October 1929 this organisation grew to be the largest independent operator in the county of Dorset in postwar years.
The initial routes operated by founder Reg Toop were four in number, namely Bere Regis - Kingston - Zelstone - Poole, Bere Regis - Wareham, Bere Regis - Bloxworth - Wimborne and Zelstone - Bere Regis - Dorchester.
In 1930 two Chevrolets joined the fleet to supplement the Model T.
In the same year Toop acquired the market day routes of James Ironside of Winfrith, running from Winfrith to Wareham on Thursdays, Dorchester on Wednesdays and Saturdays and a Saturday service to Weymouth.
In March 1936 the daily route between Poole, Morden, Bloxworth, Bere Regis and Dorchester, established by Israel Davis of Bloxworth in 1926, was brought into the growing business when his son Percy Davis joined with Toop to form a partnership. A few months later Bill Ironside (whose father's routes from Winfrith had been acquired by Toop six years earlier) also joined the business as a partner.

Between them the three partners, Reg Toop, Percy Davis and Bill Ironside, expanded the fledgling enterprise - largely by acquisition of other businesses, especially during the Second World War - from pre-war market day services to an extensive post-war rural and interurban network with regular daily routes serving Dorchester, Sherborne, Yeovil, Sturminster Newton, Shaftesbury, Blandford and Poole.
Their 1949 timetable booklet showed the complete network of thirty five routes - some ran daily and some ran once a week to market.

Click image above for a list of operators over the years

With thanks and grateful acknowledgement to Ryan Carpenter and Roger Grimley

Click the image above to see Colin Miller's reminiscences of when his father drove for Bere Regis

In 1989, Bere Regis introduced a town service in Dorchester.
Although based in the town, their bus operations had always been on village and interurban routes, and they had not previously operated locally within the county town.
The town services had been operated initially by private operators who succumbed to Southern National in the 1930's; in the 1980's the town services were operated for several years by Interbus, an operating arm of Barrys Coaches of Weymouth, before reverting to Western National (as Southern National had by then become).
Other successful Bere Regis operations at this time included considerable works contract operations for BP to and from the Wytch oilfield in Purbeck, involving up to 25 vehicles at the peak, and a daily express coach service to London from 1983.
The express service continues to this day, albeit under the First Dorset Transit banner (operation passed to Bluebird of Weymouth from November 2003).

Ray Roper retired in 1993 and Henry Frier succeeded him.
The Bere Regis firm survived as a complete entity until 1994 when most of the operations and the Dorchester base were sold to Dorchester Coachways / West Dorset Coaches - a new firm which was part of the Cawlett group who also controlled Southern National. A small nucleus of private hire vehicles remained under the Bere Regis Coaches name, operated by Reg Toop's daughter Sandra Wylie and her husband Alex.
These were garaged in Wimborne and controlled from an office in Blandford.
Whilst the operations disposed of in Dorchester and west Dorset prospered - and passed with the Cawlett group to the First Group in 1999, now operating in the year 2000 under the trading name First Dorchester - those at Blandford did not, and regrettably the proud name of Bere Regis Coaches faded away on 30th September 1995 after 66 years travelling the highways and byways of rural Dorset.

General Manager Ray Roper pictured on his 70th birthday in 1989

From April 2001, the headquarters of the Bere Regis firm - which had been in Dorchester for many years past, firstly at Bridport Road and then in the old barracks on The Grove trading estate - were closed.
The premises in The Grove had passed to Dorchester Coachways in 1994 and then in 1999 to their successors First Dorchester. The link was finally broken on 22nd April with the closure of First Dorchester and the transfer of the vehicles and drivers to operate from First Southern National's Weymouth depot.

Sadly the long time Bere Regis general manager Ray Roper died in retirement in May 2001 at the age of 81.

The History of the Bere Regis Bus Co. 1929 - 1995

Click the clipping below to read the press report on the end of Bere Regis Coaches in 1995...