Right, well, looks like I won't be coming after all. The bay above our dining room window sprung a leak a while back and we thought it was fixed. Apparently not. Not only has it started leaking again, but part of the bay's 'ceiling' has fallen away and there are signs that damp has actually got into the house structure itself. Quotes we've had so far run between £1,200 and £1,800 though that's really just to get the bay sorted, so it looks like the jolly to the States (Maine first for me, then down to Charlotte, North Carolina so the gf can see her mate) has been well and truly torpedoed.