I have a trolly-jack and some axle stands. I want to jack up the car quite high, from the centre and from the front. Where should I position the trolly jack?

it's not a good idea to jack it up in the centre, the underside of the body is not too strong to be honest and you WILL end up bending it.. better off jacking up one side at a time and doing it that way....

the best place is under the rearmost track control arm bushing i've found, then put the axle stands on the sills using a block of wood with a groove in to locate over the sill

I've found it best to jack them up from the front, under the front wishbone mounting (with a block of wood to avoid any damage to that area) and then put the axle stands under the rear wishbone mounting as it's very secure there (with the stand cup going side-to-side). Unless, of course, you want to take that off. But as Tom says, they (and any modern car) are not strong enough to take jacking up anywhere central!

Thanks a lot both of you. I just bought a dumpy bag full of big chunks of hardwood offcuts for my wood-stove today - I think they'll come in usful.