Best cyclocross bike under £1000 and other CX chat

I had to shorten the stem on my medium Boardman CX by 2cm to a 9cm and add a bit of rise as I'm not very flexible. They do seem pretty long overall.

It doesn't help they have a 20mm layback seat post as well. Thinking I might try a 80mm stem/10mm layback first to see if that helps.

...although I do prefer to go for the nuclear option some time, and just change the bike.