can anyone recomend a reliable video recorder for £50 or under ?

How about this LG . Or alternatively you could buy a good brand from ebay for less than £50, such as Panasonic or JVC. Avoid Philips or Aiwa, though.

Avoid Goodmans too although i have no problems at all with their TVs (I have 3 Goodmans TVs) their VCRs are rubbish, have forgotten how many times my Goodmans VCR has gone wrong, good job it was on 5 year warranty or would have cost a fortune sorting it out.

The only other recommendation i would make is to pay a little more if you have to but try to get one with 4 heads and nicam stereo for decent quality recordings.