Bob - Manston, as an airfield with full-on ATC, and as a LARS provider, will have access to information about whether nearby DA's are hot or cold. Shobdon, as a more grassroots style operation (no disrespect at all) without ATC, is unlikely to have access to that information. I personally have definate doubts about the value of working London Info, just for the sake of talking to someone, but in this instance I'd probably give them a call if, for whatever reason, I'd got airborne without knowing the status of the DA and no other agency was listed.