Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated.
I'll be in NW England for a few months and it's in that time period I'll be hoping to get the PPL. Unfortunately I won't be near any RAF flying clubs as advertised on their website, although the MAS information is very useful so thanks for that.
Sillert, interesting question, I don't really know! Having a quick scan of a few local clubs suggests most start training on Cessna 152s and then once qual'd can make use of PA28s etc. A few have Slingsby Fireflys which I know are very similar to Grob Tutors, but I'm unsure whether schools are willing to conduct PPL training in them. Basically, I don't really care; whatever the flying instructors seem to think is best!