Thanks for all the help folks, particularly the Typewriter Man. I'm going to have another look at the typewriter but am not holding out much hope, sadly. I suspect my daughter may have to satisfy herself with having an ornamental typewriter for now!
 

The thought had crossed my mind! I hadn't realised that typewriter expertise was so scarce in Scotland! I've just spent the last hour googling and fiddling but haven't got anywhere, unfortunately.
 

Hi Fleetwing

My wife has a saying that goes;

​"The difference between an Englishman and an American, is an American thinks hundred years is a long time and an Englishman thinks a hundred miles is a long way."

​Over this side of the Atlantic Ocean in North America, we think nothing of driving 100 miles each way for a day's shopping, that's only 1¾ hours behind the wheel. In England it's a different story, a 100 mile drive can take anywhere between 2½ to 4 hours depending on the roads. If there's construction or traffic congestion, add up to another 50% to the travel time.

Edinburgh to Luton is a minimum 7 hour drive with normal traffic, so plan on 9 to 11 hours for weekend traffic. With that many hours behind the wheel, you'd need to plan for at least one overnight down in Luton. Also, don't forget the price of gasoline (petrol) in England is triple what it is in the US. At the end of the day, this would end up being a costly venture in both time and money. It would probably be cheaper in the long run to have a courier who understands fragile cargo, collect and hand deliver the unit both ways. Just my thoughts,

Sky

skywatcher wrote:

Hi Fleetwing

My wife has a saying that goes;

​"The difference between an Englishman and an American, is an American thinks hundred years is a long time and an Englishman thinks a hundred miles is a long way."

​Over this side of the Atlantic Ocean in North America, we think nothing of driving 100 miles each way for a day's shopping, that's only 1¾ hours behind the wheel. In England it's a different story, a 100 mile drive can take anywhere between 2½ to 4 hours depending on the roads. If there's construction or traffic congestion, add up to another 50% to the travel time.

Edinburgh to Luton is a minimum 7 hour drive with normal traffic, so plan on 9 to 11 hours for weekend traffic. With that many hours behind the wheel, you'd need to plan for at least one overnight down in Luton. Also, don't forget the price of gasoline (petrol) in England is triple what it is in the US. At the end of the day, this would end up being a costly venture in both time and money. It would probably be cheaper in the long run to have a courier who understands fragile cargo, collect and hand deliver the unit both ways. Just my thoughts,

Sky

I love your wife's saying! Very perceptive. It's all relative -- next door, as it were, in Rhode Island, the natives have the reputation of regarding anything more than a 15 minute drive as being too far (or "too fah" as they'd say). Certainly the cost of fuel is a major consideration in the UK -- I am appalled at the size of cars that people here seem to think they need.