British rural public transport

I am writing a collective article about all thing I hate (and a few I like) in UK, but this is too important to let it slide until then - I hate British public transport.
Background information: I live in Cranfield village (ZIP code MK43 0JN, look it up) right in the middle between Milton Keynes and Bedford. Last bus from Milton Keynes to Cranfield leaves MK at 19:20. Last bus from Bedford to Cranfield leaves at 22:40. None of them is late enough for my taste, but most importantly none of them is synchronised with other transport, like trains from London.
The Story: today the sponsors of my Masters project were meeting with a technical evangelist from Google and invited me along to a pub in London. I planed my journey via Bedford. The meeting went well, the time flew by and I found myself taking a Midlands express back to Bedford that left London's St. Pancras station at 22.00. Needless to say I missed the last bus to Cranfield by 3 minutes. Wonderful.
Of course the good thing was that I had done this walk once before a few weeks ago, when I was returning from getting my new laptop from Newcastle. Then it was a backbreaking 4 hour walk along a highway with a 10+ kg backpack and almost no water. This time I was more prepared - I knew the names of the villages in the area and knew the directions better and I had less weight with me. I also discovered a number of shops and take-away places that were still open at that hour (a rare sight here) and manged to get a sandwich and a bottle of water for the trip. I took a few safe shortcuts and in the end came home in just over 3 hours.
But still that does not change the fact - British public transport sucks, especially in rural areas.