Hi chaps, thanks for the replies and the emails.
The bearings I bought were from Amazon in 2013 by a company called Uni-fit, at a cost of about £9 quid inc postage.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003FTGYHG/ref=pe_217191_31005151_3p_M3T1_dp_1 There's a review on there, but it wasn't me, and now they are out of stock there anyway.
The originals were SKF.
The replacements that came as a packaged set including the seal, were NTN, and looked good quality. I actually still have the original SKFs that I took out, and would be quieter than the NTN's that replaced them, so I've toyed with putting them back in.
What I think happened to the originals, is that the seal failed and water got into the bearings, but that was after 25 plus years of use. I think the same may have happened again, but this time in only about 3 years. So perhaps it's the seal causing the problem?
But anyway, I think that even if I can get the correct bearings and a suspension strut, I might prefer to have a new washer that won't need any attention for the next 15/20 years, which may well see me out.

lol.
I stumbled on this site whilst searching for spares. Knowing that there really are people who conserve these is a nice thing. But I'll only be replacing the washer if I decide to do that, as a), the dryer works fine still, and b) there's sentimental value to both of them. If the washer wasn't playing up, I wouldn't consider replacing it.
I'll have a read of the emails and reply to you both.