Hi Kev,
Great to know that you want to "join the club".
Being a relative newbee to aviation myself, i'm afraid i can't help you much with your first two questions. Apart from i totally agree with ninja controller ref learning in a club environment, you can't beat talking to experienced pilots to help with the PPL. My friends at the Club give brilliant encouragement, share my exhillaration when tings go well and support when things...don't. Our club house is a 1925 Watch Office, full of character...the club atmosphere is a pleasure to be amongst and everyone was so welcoming straight away.
Personally I love learning on an RAF airfield; yes, its a steep learning curve with airfield procedures and strict, crisp RT but I believe this will make me a better pilot in the long run. I also fly the military oval circuits as a matter of course which seem easier than the rectangular ones.
Theory?? Yes, theres a lot of it! But as others have said, if you truly immerse yourself in aviation and have a real, overriding passion to get your PPL and will do anything to get it, then the theory is not so bad. i am not scientifically minded at all; however, even I am finding the physics and engineering stuff very interesting and even remembering things... Try Airquiz when you start, that gives practice papers and I am finding it a great help to test my progress.
Lastly, as I have said on this forum before...if you can find yourself a pilot mentor who is not your instructor or maybe not even someone from your club/school, who is an experienced pilot who can advise, share your success and console with your disasters, whom you trust and can ask any aviation question to, then that will be a great help. I have two extremely experienced good pilot friends and they are invaluable in my training.
Good to see more student pilots on the forum!! Go for it and enjoy it - nothing like the thrill of flying solo!
GQ