I'm honestly quite amazed by the response so far! You've all been very helpful, and I thank you!

no problem, thats what we are here for :-)

I have an unused space in front of my conservatory that is facing a raised wall that I could cover in sheeting, store my tools in our shed and move them out to the space when I go to build, plus I wouldn't need a generator as I'd be right next to the house mains, or might that be too risky considering a wild robot could smash glass.

i used to stay with my gran a lot befor she died, so naturaly i took my robot stuff with me :-P in her house was a small conservatory which had no other use because all her possessions had been moved into her room, so i set up shop there, it was perfect but because the room was made of glass the light (and heat) comes in, so battery packs can get very hot and pop cells if your not carefull! one day i was testing a twakbot (stinger style robot) and it fell of my cradel i was propping it up on, hit the floor, started spinning and hit the window...yeah...not good, so yeah, sorry for the life story it should be fine... just make sure you do all your testing outside :P and keep your electronics out of the sun

If I wanted to learn to weld, what would be the best way to learn?

id buy a cheap welder of ebay, either mig or arc, most people prefer mig but i personaly prefer arc because i made a cheap homemade version + i find them better suited to my needs