Barton is a pilot's playground. You can nip down there and have a tea and chat in the clubhouse. You can drag your aeroplane out, squint at the sky, then go and have another tea if sky looks non too good. If wx improves, you can fire-up, fly around the local area checking out the conditions, and if it looks good, go off somewhere. If it's grotty, land back and have a bacon butty. Or do a few circuits, PFLs, whatever.
No matter how friendly and efficient a large-airfield based flying school is, it can't offer that. You turn up, you fly or not, you go home.
Not the same sort of experience at all.
I've enjoyed this delightful pilot's playground, full of enthusiasts and interesting aeroplanes, for getting on for 30 years. If it goes, I'll miss it deeply but at least I will have enjoyed it. The guys coming into flying will never know what they missed. If it can be saved in anything like it's present form, it must be!
SSD