Help needed please

[alan pritchard]

Well, almost 2 years of having a reliable car, and it... stopped......
today.
my cgt that is, i need some diagnosis please.
i started a 4 mile journey this evening, it was cold, about 10 deg c perhaps
and dry, the engine was cold.
about 2 1/2  to 3 miles in the car had a hesitant moment when travelling at
40mph on light  throttle,  this happened a few times over a couple of
minutes or so, turned at a junction and it died, so restarted and continued
about 1/4 mile further and it stopped again, this time it wouldnt start.
normal sounding cranking, nothing unusual apart from it not firing up.
so i got out and popped the bonnet, checked ht leads were connected, seemed
fine, checked dizzy was tight, checked hoses and....
noticed top hose to radiator seemed tepid, not warm/hot as i would expect,
touched engine block and it was very hot, could hold my hand on it for a
second or so.  this set me thinking
when i started the journey i heard a tap/knock from the front of the engine,
this isnt too unusual as my tappets are noisy, im low on oil (not
dangerously) and i have suspected the bearings in the power steering pump to
be 'dodgy'.
whilst driving my temperature gauge hadnt moved when i would have expected
it to.
so im wondering if my water pump could have given up??? or something similar
(what would happen if the thermostat didnt open?).
Incidently, i got a tow home, and managed to start the car (first time) to
get it up the steep hill of my drive.
So any ideas/further questions?
thanks guys

and incidently rice boys are total w***ers, whilst being towed (with hazards
on) a vauxhall nova (1.2l maybe) sat behind me blowing his horn.  the car
had the wheels, skirts and bumpers that go hand in hand with this kind of
moron.  I like these cars, if they go as well as they look,  honestly, they
had trouble overtaking me as i was being towed by my mate, LOL!!