I've had a more sucessful day today. I got the nearside drive shaft out , thats a rather satisfying click they make as they come free isn't it.
I then proceaded to jack the car up,....... and up,......... and up, as high as I dared, I suppose I must have got it up to about 35 degrees. I filled the gearbox and it took about 2 litres, I know this is a bit less than capacity but it will have to do.
Knocking the drive shaft back in (mole grips on the shaft, big hammer in hand) I managed to pull ithe drive shaft out of the cv joint on the hub. I took the boot off to get it back in and then went out to the motor factors to buy a stainless tie to hold the boot back on. These were nice and cheap each at just over a pound for a big and little pair, but of course they came in boxes of ten, so the one I needed cost £11.50

Still they are in the shed for when I need to do a boot for the next MOT.
When the car was back on the ground I slotted the speedo drive cable back into the output socket from the drive on the gearbox and took it for a spin, It still worked so I've built up around the cable outer end with epoxy putty to hold it in place.
So all in all its been a success. horay! Thanks again for the help Frank.