I fly in both the US and UK and don't care whether I join Standard Overhead or Downwind on the 45. At Redhill we fly circuits at 1200 QNH (Airfield is 222 above sea level) but overhead joins are at 1400 QNH because Gatwick starts at 1500. All circuits are to the north and there is no dead side. We do have the benefit of ATC rather than A/G though !
Nearly everywhere else locally has some slightly different rule to avoid the airspace overhead or adjacent or local sensitive areas.
The main thing is that everybody does the same thing, keeps to a sensible sized circuit and reads all the pilot info at an unfamiliar field first and then observes the local heights or altitudes.