treeve, thinking about it some more...don't throw away your Nikkor lens just yet!...
I asked a similar question a while ago,along the lines of "I got manual lenses, which can fit an older Nikon with the right adapter..but"
here's the link;
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...ead.php?t=1840
I got some very good answers from the folks on here.
In summary, something like a D70 will be fine...but you'll have no metering...something like the D100, D200, D1,D1x,D2 etc etc I believe will have the metering.
The 5.7 megapixel D1x is around £400 at the cheapest S/H price I've seen...Not the highest megapixel DSLR around, but really quick. (it's a pro spec body, based on the Film F5 counterpart, so there's some really battered ones around, as well as good well looked after ones)
Interestingly, D100's tend to fetch the same sort of money. I believe these also use CompactFlash cards. However, D40,D50 and D80's are no go as they use SD cards.(which you can't get xD adapters for)
The D1x is one I would possibly like to get my hands on some time in the future, for the same reasons as you.
hope this helps