thank you, I have been in touch with both Theymos and Cyrus.
The problem was identified, and some steps were taken to correct, but I'm now stuck. I require a moderator to 'activate' the original account.
essentially;
I cannot get the recovery email because the account has not been activated.
when I click the resend activation email link, it says I do not have permission to access...
(my previous account, I am a senior member) so I would hate to lose access to the account - although I've not had access to it for a long time ....
please see error below
https://imgur.com/eps9lWI