Thanks for the replies.
Still no joy. I wouldn't have had to compile it, I wouldn't have known how.
I _think_ I may have had a wallet set up on my old phone (android). Could this be how I've ended up with an 8 word seed, and is there anywhere I can download the old versions for android from?
So frustrating, I can see the BTC there, just can't access them!
edit> Thinking out loud here, but one version of Electrum, it would sort of 'accept' the 8 word Seed if I changed the BIP when restoring it. Dunno if that helps any?