| Thanks for all the suggestions, I sorted it last weekend, the trick was to prime the slave cylinder. Doing this moved air much quicker and soon made the lever pumping method more productive. I haven't tried the syringe method, but it sounds good.
Tips for novices like me:
1) Prime the master and slave cyliner following instructions above (I found the easiest way to compress the slave piston, was to have it loose on the bike and pushed the whole slave unit onto the bike to compress the piston).
2) It really helped to have the drain tube I attached to the nipple and bottle to catch the fluid above the bleed nipple, this means the air floats up the tube, reducing the risk of drawing back into the system.
3) Keep an eye on the master cylinder and make sure the reservoir doesn't empty, otherwise you'll draw air back into the system - this is very easily done.
3) Be patient, it takes much longer than you'll expect (maybe the syringe method is the way ahead).
I'm back on the road. | 
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