Many thanks for the responses folks - it's interesting to see the varied experiences of BFR / no BFR.
I did my PPL at OBA in 95, I returned two years later and was required to do a BFR. I contacted Adrian a few weeks back (i'm going to Florida in Feb and wish to hire an aircraft for a few hours) and he confirmed that I would need to do a BFR.
Due to a family bereavement I'm flying out to Palm Springs in just over a week's time. I thought it might be nice to do a few hours flying in the area so I got my sister (who lives there) to contact an outfit at Bermuda Dunes Airport - they too have confirmed that a BFR is required. Interestingly, the guy she spoke to at BDA told her that the aircraft insurance would be void if I didn't have a current BFR.
PD