I also passed through STN recently for the first time in a while. It is, quite simply, awful. It has been, for geographic and route reasons, my main airport for many years; but now I would seek to avoid it.
Security is worse than ever. I was running only slightly late but had to buy priority access as the queues were back to and beyond the barriers.
The departure area is a hideous and disorientating assault on the senses. And border control coming home is as slow as ever, if not worse.
It's a great sadness that the place has deteriorated so massively.