I can lend you my violin, if you like - it's not currently getting any use... speaks nice and easily and is generally a pretty friendly instrument. It's got a soundpost(ish) crack that appears to be stable but would need an eye keeping on it to see if it's opening up at all, however.

I might take you up on that, thanks! Temporarily borrowing one does sound to me like the way forward if I've got no idea how much use I'd get out of it.

Won't be able to get it to you until September at the earliest, of course, and I'd probably rather October, what with the amount of faffing about out-of-Cambridge I intend to be doing during Sept...

Sure. I've gone years at a time without touching a violin; a few months one way or the other will be barely noticeable :-)