Wow! Things have changed a bit . .
I was bringing a well-equipped - it had radio - Percival Prentice back from Brussels to Biggin one evening when, upon calling London they said "be advised Biggin is closed, call Gatwick on 123,4" which I thought I out to do since a couple of months previously I had landed after hours at Biggin and just managed to get off the airfield before P C Plod turned up on his LE Velocette.
The overnight stay at Gatwick was only 15/- which, even in those days was reasonable and the following morning I was able to bask in the luxury of having one of Dan Dare's 4B's exhaust de-ice the aircraft; their stands were opposite the GA park.
The only difficulty as I remember was the seemingly interminable waiting out in the boonies as every time I thought I might be able to go, "hold for the taxying Britannia". Eventually, complaining of incipient plug fouling, I was allowed to make a VFR departure back to Biggin. Those inverted DH engines did not like long periods of idling.
Not a lot to do with the general tenor of the thread but it was a "light single into Gatwick".
GQ.