I'm not suggesting where you go, 'cause my club is in Suffolk and clearly too far away.
What I do suggest is that you visit your closest clubs (probably Bowland and Camphill) to see how they work. Instructor trainingand the pre-solo syllabus is standardised, but the ethos, atmosphere, facilities and general feel of clubs can be very different. I've not yet had the pleasure of flying at either, but they are very different in size and location - I believe there is no flat place at Camphill to land (which is OK in a glider but very different from a tarmac runway). Join the one where you think you'd be happiest spending a whole day.
According to my wife the minimum unit of gliding time is the day, so you need feel that you will enjoy the company while doing all the other stuff mentioned (especially pushing gliders around) in addition to your flying. At my club there is the risk that the CFI and I will duet on ukulele, which presents a challenge for the musically minded.
I'd also suggest that, unless you intend to go away for an intensive course, distance can be quite important. If the weather is marginal, a half hour drive and an hour drinking coffee, in case it improves, is feasible. If you've a long drive, you won't go unless the weather is obviously good. Continuity when learning is really important - I suspect most would agree with me that turning up once a month means that almost all your time in the air is used getting you back to where your were last visit.
Ideally, plan to glide at least once per week when training - more is great if you can manage it. Of course, this needs a sympathetic family who will allow you to decide late on Friday whether Saturday or Sunday is your flying day this week.
[Edited to add: I've just seen catsfive's post. You should check out Eden Soaring before making the trip because I'm pretty sure they were only accepting experienced pilots to fly there, at least at first. Their website (
edensoaring) talks of training some lapsed solo pilots last year, so they might be up for what the original poster is looking for. Note that the club is based in N Wales until late April).]