Personally, I use the night qualification rarely because IMV the risk of an engine failure on a proper dark night is not acceptable. There is no escape route.
The shortage of GA airports that open late enough is another problem in the UK.
I have flown at night, to the extent needed to get the ratings (including the standalone FAA PPL) and occassionally to get home late, in the winter. But the 90 day passenger carriage requirement is another hassle; I rarely bother to fly the 3 full-stop circuits to revalidate mine nowadays.
I have my own views on the whole issues of navigation with a PPL+NQ - you need full instrument capability to do it, but you aren't taught anywhere near the necessary level. The way it is taught in the UK, you do little local flights, from one well lit town to another, using dead reckoning. In my training, we got totally lost and the instructor (who didn't have a clue where we were either) just said "well this shows that you can get lost very easily at night" and signed me off
