My "overkill" setup did, however, enable me to cycle up Hardknott pass in the English Lake District, the steepest bit on that hill is supposed to be about 30%.

Alas! We were all younger and fitter c1977. Congratulations.

I've been over the Hardknott Pass on foot (conclusion: machismo is stupid) and twice in Range Rovers I was testing for various magazines thirty years apart. I much preferred the Range Rover Way...just saying.

Anyone tempted to emulate Martin's Epic Transit of the Hardknott should note that it may be hours, perhaps even days, before a car comes along, so make sure your bike is in good order and you have enough spares with you.

And mind the feral sheep. There was this ram, who apparently thought we coveted its females, who head-butted the door of the Range Rover, through which I'd just escaped its enraged attentions, so hard that it got stuck by its horns sticking through the aluminium doorskin. I climbed over the centre console and my companion, and gave the jack another couple of strokes so that the ram's front feet we're off the muddy road and it hung from its horns at an angle where it couldn't release its horns by scrabbling in the slippery mud with its hind feet. Then I packed the flat wheel away neatly, checked the wheel nuts, and stood for a couple of minutes fixing angles and distances in my mind while the bloody ram stared at me with bloodshot eyes, probably trying to convey, 'Are you dissing me by working right here in my personal space?' I said to my companion through the sunroof, 'Wind down the rear passenger window on my side.' Then I grabbed the ram by the lowest joints on its rear legs and lifted its back end so it could free its horns from the door. It twisted around with unbelievable speed, presumably hyper-motivated by my impertinence in coming so near its only reason for existence, but I was already twirling like a Scottish rugby forward tossing the caber at the village sports day, and when the animal was high enough and I was moving fast enough, let it go to fly over the roof of the car to land about fifty feet on the downside of the mountain to give me time to salvage the jack, which I thought, correctly, we would need again, throw it through the back window, get into the car and get it moving. That ram was incredibly fast because in the less than the ten seconds it took me to let down the car and throw the jack into the car and me through the driver's door, it reached us and, as the car passed it, used its horns to score the rear quarter of the car.

I've been convinced ever since that you can't hate sheep enough.

Someone must have swapped the rear wheel since the bike was built as there's a sticker saying "Equipped with Rohloff".

Not necessarily. My frameset came with that sticker. I bought a Rohloff wheel separately, but could have bought a Shimano hub instead. If I had been a bit younger when I bought it I would probably fitted a Shimano 8, but not an 11 as I didn't trust the first version of the Alfine 11.

How many speeds has the Alfine hub, 8 or 11? The latter is worth more but isn't as robust as a Rohloff hub and has a smaller gearing range than the Rohloff so is less suitable for touring anywhere with hills.

The original poster says 8-speed. I like the Shimano 8-speeds, and have them on several family bikes. But the resale value is obviously much lower than a Rohloff, which seems to keep a high second-hand price.

And in 2026 I doubt that anyone would buy a bike with an 8-speed hub with a range of "only" about 307% for touring in hilly areas.

This is mainly because expectations have changed, my state of the art 15-speed tourer in 1977 had a gear range of 343%, only a little wider than the Shimano 8 hub gear. My fellow riders in 1977 considered it to be overkill, most of them had the popular 40/50 double chainring setup, with an overall range of about 250%.  My "overkill" setup did, however, enable me to cycle up Hardknott pass in the English Lake District, the steepest bit on that hill is supposed to be about 30%.

Someone must have swapped the rear wheel since the bike was built as there's a sticker saying "Equipped with Rohloff". How many speeds has the Alfine hub, 8 or 11? The latter is worth more but isn't as robust as a Rohloff hub and has a smaller gearing range than the Rohloff so is less suitable for touring anywhere with hills.

Its a 486L size. Buyers can see the measurments on the Thorn website
Apologies I didn't see the photos as I was viewing on the phone whilst on the move.
best wishes

Firstly all good wishes to your partner.
If you look beneath the bottom bracket you should see some numbers and letters stamped into the frame. That’s the frame size so very useful for any future buyer.
Might be worth emailing SJS cycles ( home of Thorn bikes) re realistic value. They do sell some used Thorn bikes on their website so ( for a %) they might sell yours for you.
Best wishes