Well, I am having stupid day or something...
I cleaned it and pressed the foot pedal and voila, the feed dogs came up. You'd think I was done now being an idiot, but no.
I read somewhere that it is good to change the needle to a denim needle in order to go through all the layers and that it makes the stitch straighter, so I am trying to change the needle, but when I try to push it down to get the bobbin thread it hits a metal surface just under the metal plate, and I can't work out why?
Took the needle out again several times, checked that it was straight (was new from a package anyway) and tried again. Any ideas?
I have changed needles on sewing machines hundreds of times and have never had a problem. I miss my really simply, if not rubbish low end machine.