In message , at 15:52:30 on
Sun, 3 Apr 2011, Recliner remarked:

I think Simon Calder is pretty savvy, and wouldn't have missed it if it
did run. The fact that he knew about it at all suggests he also knew
what to look for. And as he was ready with his bike, I also suspect he
knew it wouldn't turn up. Given how seldom it's supposed to run, I
wonder if it actually runs at all. Who else would notice if it didn't?

I'm going with the theory that he failed to book (for what's the return
trip of the bus). I suppose he'd need his bike to get back to Milton
Keynes, although he may not have intended to take the bus very far.

As it's one of several services run by the minibus, many of them only
once a month (but it goes somewhere virtually every weekday), I can't
see why that particular one would be missed out, unless perhaps they had
no bookings for the outbound leg either.
--
Roland Perry