I take it you have never done any loaded touring? I ask that because you say both bikes felt dull and weighing a ton (unloaded)
I looked at the prices and found the prices shocking also, basically double what a good touring bike with proper gearing (the tour de fer is still over geared for loaded touring, 50/39/30 and a 11-32)
the price of 1600 pounds is about 1000 canadian dollars more than a good touring bike here--but I know Rip Off Britain is still a reality for you guys and has been for a long time.
it seems to me that there are dawes and other available models in the UK for less than that, but lets face it, you've got 3 weeks to sort out it all, so I wish I could help, but don't know these bikes.
clearly the roadie isnt an option for loaded touring, but perhaps on british touring forums you can find proper opinions from people who have the tour de fer.
the tour de fer with stock gearing has a low gear of about 25-26 gear inches, which from my experience going back a while has shown me from bad experiences that this is not low enough, especially when you get into lots of steep hills.
and also, I know that the tiagra crankset of 50/39/30 has a bolt pattern than doesnt allow putting a smaller granny gear on, ie you are stuck with the 30t--this traditionally has been the easy, inexpensive way to get lower gearing.