Chris,
Pro's and cons of Cranfield...
Pros:
Bloody great runway!
Full ATC, with a varying sympathy towards students depending on who is on frequency!
Lots of traffic to contend with, which is really a good thing!
A huge wide circuit, so relatively plenty of time to get all those downwind checks done...
Cons:
Can be kept waiting for quite a while at the hold point when it is busy
Circuit can get a bit too congested sometimes!
Can be long taxi due to size of A/D
Some quite good schools (Bonus/Billins?) I would not bother with Flyteam Aviation though.