Excellent help, thanks Fuji et al.
It's about an hour & a half drive from me if (& that's a BIG IF) the Dartford crossing is helping rather than hindering the flow of traffic. Certainly looks worth taking a trip down to the club to see what the operation is about and talk to a few members.
Many thanks for this suggestion - if any one can suggest any other options for aircraft / location all suggestions gratefully received.
Thanks for the observation on "uncontrolled" airfield ops G4FKK, the bulk of my flying is also from ATC airports (Southend or Kissimmee) so mental preparation for a vastly different airport environment is perhaps not something that would have been uppermost in my mind before now.
Regards all, enq.