Hi Blinkz,
Thanks for your comments. I use carb-heat on base and I prefer to keep it on during final until fairly close to landing. Yes, there's a risk of forgetting to turn it off, but I think the risk of ingesting crap into the engine in that case must be lower than the risk from an engine failure on final.
Although I live in Hampshire (near Blackbushe - where I started flying) I now fly from Booker (Wycombe Air Park). Bit of a drive, but for all sorts of reasons I prefer it.
HH