Regarding the phone....

after reading articles on how to change out SIM cards and which provider was best and yadda-yadda.... I think we're going to pop into a convenience store, or a Car Phone Warehouse if i can find one, and get the cheapest thing I can find that uses the Vodaphone network.

Why Vodaphone?

Because Vodaphone uses a different frequency than O2 and...the other network... and the lower frequency (G2), while slower for data..which don't care about... extends a bit further into the hills and valleys.

I expect to pay something like about twenty pounds. I'll bring it home and give it to one of my friends that is coming over to Scotland for the Masters World Championships in September.