Where to fly in the UK
Hi pfFredd,
I have never been to Norway (although friends tell me it is a beautiful country), so I have no point of comparison between Norway and the UK.
However, in general road travel in the UK is both expensive, often conjested and certainly time consuming. So you don't want to have to look out at our very variable and unreliable weather each morning and have to decide whether to risk taking a long, expensive car journey just to get to the aerodrome, where the weather might be unflyable by the time you get there.
So wherever you decide to fly, it needs to be no more than perhaps 50 miles from where you live - absolute maximum; preferably much less. So one or two of the aerodromes suggested to you on your thread by other Ppruners are impractical.
The two areas in the UK that you have chosen as your likely places of residence are not particularly good areas for private flying. The least unsatisfactory area of those you have chosen is probably the Manchester area.
There are certainly flying clubs/schools at Liverpool John Lennon airport. However, I believe the very long established Lancashire Aero Club, formerly at Manchester-Barton, may by now have relocated, but I'm not sure where to. Certainly, their website doesn't seem to tell us.
I'm not sure why Llanfairpg's link to Sherburn-in-Elmet takes you to Lancashire Aero Club: Sherburn is East of Leeds, which is a very long way from Barton, and I hardly think LAC would have moved that far away. Perhaps Llanfair can give us some information.
I hope my few comments will help you find somewhere convenient.
Broomstick.