We arrived at the breakfast room a little later than usual to find that breakfast room had more people in it than on previous days. This meant that the self-service breakfast was warmer than the previous day.

We drove to Chichester to visit the Cathedral and get another stamp in my Cathedral passport. We enjoyed the Cathedral in a way that we didn’t when we stayed in Chichester many years ago. On our previous visit the space was full of artworks obscuring the architecture so we could not enjoy the Cathedral at its best.

We had lunch in the Cathedral Café, where after having had a cooked breakfast, I opted for an Apple Danish pastry (one of my five a day ????).

After lunch we walked around the nearby Bishop’s Palace gardens which looked delightful in the sunshine. As we walked through the town towards the car it was sad to see empty shops where businesses had closed in the main street. I was also saddened to see homeless people; I don’t remember seeing any on my previous visit.

We set the SatNav to avoid motorways and drove back to Winchester via a leisurely route through the countryside in glorious sunshine.

Later we dined in Brasserie Blanc where I chose vegetable risotto, which was delicious, and Mr C chose steak followed by a cheeseboard. After dining we called in at the nearby Royal Oak for a post dinner drink. The beer wasn’t to Mr C’s taste so we returned to the hotel for one last drink before retiring to our room for the evening.

We arrived at the hotel shortly after 10pm to be told that the bar had just closed! The girl behind the bar was on the phone to her boss at the time and explained that customers had just arrived and asked if they could be served. The answer was NO!

We walked off in disgust. We were not experiencing the advertised 5-star rating that the hotel advertises. So far, it was the worst ever hotel had I had ever experienced. We were both regretting booking the extra two nights on the spur of the moment, just because we could now that Mr C has retired.

It is the management of the various facilities which all seem to be subcontracted out that is the problem, the staff were mostly lovely. I suspect part of the problem is the hotel struggling to cover its costs. By now I was noticing that the quality of things such as serviettes and toilet paper had declined since we arrived.

John Donne

The Bishops Palace Gardens, next to Chichester Cathedral, is a beautifully kept, tranquil garden bordered by the historic Roman city walls, and the Tudor wall. The perfect place to take a relaxing wander a few steps from the thriving centre of Chichester, you can enjoy some of the best views of the cathedral. There are plenty of benches to take that well-earned rest, or sit and admire the immaculately kept gardens.

In the gardens you will find a section of shrubs, trees, roses, climbers and herbaceous plants, with around 100 unusual trees and shrubs throughout. There is also an eye-catching rose pergola which was planted in 2009 and carries climbing roses, clematis and honeysuckle.

After breakfast we returned to Arundel to visit the Anglican Parish Church and the Catholic Cathedral which we did not have sufficient time to do justice to after our visit to the castle the previous day.

The Parish Church of St. Nicholas (which adjoins the Fitzalan Chapel on the Arundel Estate) is full of history and life. The stewards and other members of the church were welcoming and forthcoming in sharing their knowledge of the history of the building. The stewards also talked about the strong links between the Anglicans and Catholics within Arundel.

The Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady and Saint Philip Howard dominates the landscape due to the scale of the building. It is situated next to the Parish Church and is a more modern, Victorian building, rich in artwork and design but on entering we felt it was lacking in soul.

After visiting the two churches we browsed a couple of bookshops before having lunch in a delightful tea shop where I opted for a scone and butter. Whilst dining I was quite taken with one of the tea cosies for sale. Unfortunately the teapot inside it was not for sale leaving us only with the option of sourcing a teapot elsewhere.

Next we visited the Tangmere Aviation museum. The display was good although, sadly, we had chosen a day when most of the planes were not available for viewing. This was because of one of the planes being dismantled in order to ship it to London where it was due to be displayed as part of the RAF 100 celebrations.

We joined a guided tour of the museum which was interesting but we would have liked a bit more information on some of the planes. As we were leaving the museum I was hoping to take a photograph of the flags that were flying near the entrance but they had been taken down for the day.

After we returned to the B&B I decided to take another walk around the Bishop’s Palace Gardens so that I could attain my 10,000 steps for the day. Unlike my first visit the gardens were almost empty making for a peaceful walk in the sunshine.

We dined in a Greek restaurant which we found to be rather mediocre compared to the other places we had dined. After the meal we stopped in a nearby pub where they served a rather nice rose wine. Like all the other pubs we had visited in Chichester (apart from Wetherspoons) the pub was almost empty.

After a satisfying breakfast we visited the Bishop’s Palace Gardens which are next door to No. 4 Canon Lane. The gardens are beautiful and free to enter. After touring the gardens we drove to the Weald & Downland Living museum, arriving just as it was opening for the day.

The museum is home to rescued rural buildings which are set in a 40 acre wooded landscape. We found the museum to be excellent and spent almost 4 hours there. Lunch was taken overlooking the pool, watching dragonflies flitting around. We had an informal talk about the watermill by one of the guides. The mill and machinery were working and the guide, sporting a finger bandage, sheepishly told us how he had managed to place his finger in a part of the machinery where it shouldn’t have been.

Walking the distances around the landscape had racked up my daily step count and I was well on my way to reaching a personal best of 20,000 steps in a day, so, when we returned to Chichester, I accompanied Mr C in the quest to find suitable restaurants for the rest of the week. This is something he normally does on his own.

After all that walking we stopped for a refreshing drink in Wetherspoon’s before we returned to the B&B to relax and freshen up before dining in the Giggling Squid. The food and service in this restaurant, which serves Thai cuisine, was excellent. After our meal, we had a drink in the Boar’s Head before returning to the B&B for the night.