Hi again all!
Just thought I'd update you as to the flight as promised.
All went well (apart from really struggling to find Coal Aston - a serious lesson in chart reading, that one!).
As to R/T, we ended up as suggested, contacting simply Leeds Radar, followed by Doncaster. Both were extremely helpful when it came to airspace transit and made my journey as easy as it could be.
An important thing for me is to start learning to switch on to radio calls however. There were points at which Doncaster attempted to relay messages, but I was so task focused (on nav specifically) that I didn't even notice one or two of their calls. Obviously that's where the instructor steps in, but it still gave me a little heads-up.
Onwards and upwards - thanks again for your helpful advice!
Rick.