Unfortunate Choice Of Airfields
To the OP....
You've probably picked the worst corner of a very congested TMA, a lot of what you describe also applys to us Jet drivers, its just a very busy part of a small country and although unconventional you need to consider the proximity of Gatwick/London City/Heathrow.
The extended vectors and early / late turn ons are facts of life in that area, it takes a few go's to figure out what they're planning to do and even then that guarantees nothing for the next time.
Whilst it looks scrappy, you should be rest assured that theres always a plan in somebodys mind in the main......imagine an area as busy as that with lets say some of our "less" capable ATC'ers from the EU it would be carnage.
It would also be a good bet that your air miles flown were significantly less than planned