Paul Jessop wrote:
... we fly this really sensible diagonal leg from
downwind to base that will scare most airport-trained US pilots senseless

I remember that the other way round - flying in the US soon after I went
solo in the UK and hearing the cries of alarm from the back seat as I
cut off the nice square corner of the circuit at *exactly* 45 degrees
(as I said, I'd only just gone solo).

We have one or two other tricks up our sleeve for foreigners - for
example, we turn left off aerotow not right.

For a US visitor I'd suggest talking the UK instructor through your
flight before launching would be a good idea, so as to identify these
cultural differences before takeoff. As another example, Houston (where
I flew in the US) began all circuits at 1000ft agl over a particular
ground feature. At my UK flatland club we'd still be scratching at that
height and start the circuit around 700ft from an appropriate point,
maybe joining the circuit half way down the downwind leg. Fortunately
I'd been briefed on that beforehand, otherwise I'd not have got as far
as introducing Houston to the British diagonal. Clubs based in the hills
have modified circuit procedures to deal with curlover in particular
wind directions, but they tend to brief on those anyway because UK
flatlanders like me would otherwise get into trouble.