Thanks for the welcome Steve and Pleiades, that's exactly the kind of information I was looking for, and is gratefully received. The limit of my mechanical expertise is chain tightening, tyre changes and oil changes, so it sounds like there's some learning I can do here. Is it worth changing the bushings on when swapping out the fork springs?

I'm planning on splurging on off-the-road's online shop (esp. springs and bashplate), but being based in Manchester do you know anywhere that can offer the same things for similar prices?