Hehe, I'm still buzzing and happy
Went out and bought some plug converters and other bits and bobs, and a tub of bannoffee ice-cream to scoff in celebration.
I live close to Durham, and I gather they do fast passports there too (at least they did a couple of years ago). If I had rang them they'd said I had to go to Liverpool instead then we might have had to call the entire trip off - to show how budget this is, the cost to replace the passport would be more than we're paying for the hotel! Add travel to Liverpool on top and it starts getting far too expensive.
Ah well, time to relax now, then start packing tomorrow.