I had this today. Approaching Stoney Cross, direct SAM at 5000ft awaiting a zone crossing I asked Bournemouth to coordinate 30 miles ago. I got a crossing clearance just as I was about to enter the orbit.
However, 30 seconds after I entered the zone, the RT loading went through the roof. The controller was working very hard and from the vectors I received, it was obvious that I was right in the middle of all the inbounds trying to get down and all the outbounds trying to get up.
The chap did a great job and I'm very thankful for his hard work. Had I not had any controlling experience I probably would have thought of the late clearance as a pain in the rear. What pilots sometimes forget is that sometimes an ATCO does most of his talking on the telephone rather than the radio, coordinating all the random things we may want to do and keeping us separated from the traffic they get paid to shift.
In case the controller concerned is reading this, thanks for a job well done
