Thanks Trevor, I had a look for those books online, and happened across the full set of 7 "Air Pilots Manuals" by Trevor Thom for various prices. The whole set is on eBay just now for ~£70, but they are the 2004/2005 editions. Does this matter? I'm guessing most of the stuff will be the same as brand new editions, maybe minor changes to law etc?
As for nav equipment, do you buy stuff from the school or from websites etc?
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions, its such a great help being a newbie to flying training. I feel like i did when i started university-excited but daunted...lol!