Dawes Discovery twin Tandem - Hopefully a touring machine

So I picked this up off eBay, she's currently not the prettiest and needs a little bit of work but looks sturdy, was fairly cheap and was close by.

It's a Dawes Double Edge, not sure of the year, any ideas?

I'm planning on doing LEJOG in the summer with myself and girlfriend on this.

So planning on making this a) suitable for touring and b) a bit nicer looking.

It has rack mounts front and rear and already has fenders so that's something. I have a rear rack in the parts bin so that'll be going on shortly. It has front rack mounts and I'd like to fit one. Anyone have any suggestions or even better one to sell?

Those saddles are obviously going to be the first thing to go as they are hideous. I have a spare brown brooks that'll be going on the front and hopefully find a matching one for the girlfriend.

The other thing is it has GripShit which I am very much against. I have a set of Shimano bar end shifters in the parts bin so thinking of using those with Paul Thumbies (or more likely the SJS cycles version) any body have any of these to sell either?

Never had a tandem before and hoping this one will fit the bill, any tips or suggestions welcome.

@6pt will be able to answer a lot of your questions i'm sure

The paintwork and lettering is very similar to my 1998 Galaxy, so I'm guessing around that era.

Cool cheers. I was guessing mid to late nineties.

The Double Edge is apparently Dawes' "MTB tandem" model, hence the bars, gripshift etc I suppose.

Other people on 'ere have had success converting old lugged steel MTB frames to handsome touring machines (eg https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/172374/?offset=7400#comment10220958) so I guess something similar could be done with this. Is it aluminium?

I saw that upon googling but this one is a bit different. It has 700c wheels for one thing. It's more of a kind of tandem hybrid really, which suits me fine.
It's steel not alu. I quite the look of the bars on there at the moment look comfy.will probably keep them to be honest want it to fairly upright and comfy not really into the whole human centipede effect with drops front and back on a tandem.

So upon receiving the tandem it turns out it is actually a Dawes Discovery twin which makes more sense. Also looks a lot better in real life than in that incredibly washed out photo.

Got the tandem up and running, changed the saddles sorted the brakes and gears, general lubrication etc and took it for its first ride. Rides really nicely actually and think it will be a good base to turn it into a good touring steed. Upgrades to come - Thumb shift, 8 speed upgrade, new V brakes, maybe purple grip tape (to match purple Dawes logos)