I also live near you - Bexley - and can thoroughly recommend Rochester as a good place to learn, especially if you take as long as I did on circuits before going solo!
I started learning at Biggin Hill but changed to Rochester mainly for cost-effectiveness as there are no landing fees for pupils, and there's not much difference in the journey time. The school I use is Millen Aviation and my instructor is great...very patient and with over 5000 hours so I feel he must know what he's doing
If you want any further details just drop me an email.