caramel - redsnail is quite right, modular MCC training does not count towards the requirements for ATPL issue, or anything else apart from the MCC requirement. Only if the MCC is integral with the type rating course do the hours count.
send clowns - Quite correct. With a few notable exceptions (take-off, landing, emergency descent, etc.) all MCC training should be done with the autopilot engaged, the CAA inspectors are most insistent on this point.
However, quite wrong about your course being the first in the country to be approved, on the contrary, it is currently the last. There are no grandfather rights for the MCC course since it was not a requirement until the advent of JAR-FCL 1. The first courses to be approved would have been those of the integrated schools, OATS, BAe, etc.
If there is any advantage to doing the MCC course on a jet, which I doubt, it is more likely to come from familiarity with the modern flight deck, not from something unrepresentative like the L1011, however jolly it was to fly.