Chichester in Chilly June, Chichester, England

It’s almost exactly a year since I last went to Chichester. I know it’s a very English thing to do, but I couldn’t help but compare the weather: the bright, warm sunny days a year ago, and the cold, very windy and wet days on this trip. I thought I’d gone prepared, taking rain gear, sensible shoes, warmer clothes etc., but in the end – due to the strong winds – I still had to buy myself a warm scarf to wrap round my neck. However, the weather may not have been playing nicely, but Chichester is a lovely city and it was really good to be back there again.

What drew me there this week – as the last time – was an exhibition at the Pallant House Gallery. Its current major exhibition – The Shape of Things: Still Life in Britain – has been drawing brilliant reviews. The Guardian described it as a ‘thrilling show’, the Telegraph ‘splendid’. There was also a ceramics exhibition I was keen to see. So, really, how could I not go?

Apart from the Pallant House Gallery, an award-winning gallery that regularly puts on great exhibitions, there’s the glorious Cathedral, the Chichester Festival Theatre, the Bishop’s Palace Gardens and The Novium Museum. The Cathedral, Art Gallery, Gardens and Novium Museum are right in the centre and the Theatre only a short walk away – about 10-15 minutes – at the edge of the city. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).