April 27

Arundel Castle
Well, this was a stroke of luck: having not researched attractions as such, when I see something I like the look of or an interesting sign, I call in. A walk though the gardens, chapel and rooms of Arundel Castle was a highlight of this few days; the rooms that are open to the public are still occasionally used by the family who have about a sixth of the castle as their private residence.
Chichester
As I drove through Chichester I saw Cathedral Garage and couldn’t resist popping in. Simon had a finger deep into a clutch piston: “feel that edge there – it’s rough – I think it’s stuffed,” he told Ken. They were a little surprised to see me in their very old workshop, but happy to chat while they worked. Like most people, they don’t think they know enough about the EU vote to have an opinion, but, when encouraged, these guys want out: they think the red tape and immigration that comes with being in the EU makes it not worth it; they like the way Australia does its borders and think, “we should do it like that – they have proper control there.”
“It’s all lies anyway; they don’t tell us the truth; if we knew the truth we’d be out; it’s fixed as well you know; it doesn’t matter what we vote, we’ll be staying in – you watch.”
I asked them about the area, what it means to them, and why it’s important to the UK: “it’s not special: we were just born here, so that’s where we are. Maybe if we stay in the EU and things get worse we should come to Australia.” They then told me about various people they knew who had done just that.
I set off and came across a group of protesting young doctors on the roadside, enthusiastically supported by the honking traffic. I talked with Jenny, Juliet, Nya, and Alex.
“The issue is the current contract is an average week of 48 hours, a European standard; the new contract will move it to an average of 58 hours a week, BUT on-call hours are not counted, leave is not counted, overtime is not counted (we usually do 2 hours of free overtime a day), and teaching hours are not counted, so this average is ridiculously high, let alone the longer weeks that make 58 hours only an average.”
“Under the new contact you’ll only be paid guesstimate hours, guessed by the government, not actual hours worked, so we’re protesting to keep our pay the same, not even an increase.”
“All current contracts expire end of August, then we’ll be even more stretched as people are leaving or taking a year off to let this sort out, leaving fewer doctors to do the work.”
I fuelled the car in Midhurst; the guy working there thought it better to stay in the EU. He grew up in Germany and is of Pakistani descent. “People don’t realise how many people who live and work in the UK are part of the EU; what happens to all the workers from Europe is they vote out?”
Fernhurst
My lunch chat was a very lucky stop following my nose and a little sign to The Red Lion in Fernhurst, which meant a decent duck to get through the 5’6” door and no standing straight once inside. About halfway through lunch I started to chat with Ian, who was very comfortably installed next to the fire with Hamish the dog and his friend. They enjoyed telling me that the Duke of Norfolk is Catholic, yet is responsible for organising all the Royal events, such as weddings etc. “You know the Queen is the Head of the Church of England…”  Ian’s friend said that as a student of history he remembers what happened last time England signed a piece of paper – Chamberlain with Hitler – and then thought it was OK to turn its back on Europe.