Hi Ian
Thanks for the welcome to the forum, I am just starting to wade through the posts as I am sure there is a load of interesting info to be found. I would recommend giving Uckinghall a go if you get the chance I have always done okay there for the carp although if you like the odd tench there are some nice ones to be had. If I were fishing there for the first time I would fish one of the swims on the far bank on the opposite side from the carpark, take your wellies if it is the winter as it gets a bit muddy. First choice of swims would be near the big single house in the corner of the lake, here you will find a couple of pegs with platforms situated between trees that hang into the lake, sorry can't remember the pegs numbers! Fish tight into the overhanging branches but keep close to your rods as the carp will try to get there heads into the snags.
Bait wise I have found bollies with a spicy flavour seem to have the edge but it is not too critical. I have also found that loose feeding small betaine pellets seems to work well, it will attract the tench and odd big bream but the feeding seems to attract the carp to have look as well.
The only other thing I can think of is to check on the BAA website for when there are matches on as it can get busy and a bit noisy!
Hope these pointers help a bit if you give Uckinghall a try.
Cheers
Alan