To answer 1 question - your talking dvd.
the other part you have 2 choices.
1. buy a stand alone dvd recorder that HAS to have 2 scart connections(they also play dvds) and connect the 3 up in a line (not a triangle) with the scarts, the 1st one needs to be where your signal is coming from (video player) connected to your recording device (dvd) then the dvd also connected to your tv, the video player doesnt need to connect to the tv as the signal flows through the dvd recorder. The connection setup is quite difficult here as you need 3 scarts and all the devices have to be set on the correct input for the recording to work.
The far easier and prob less time consuming way (although also more expensive) to do it is go and buy a decent dvd/vhs recorder, most of these are now digital so recording tele will be made easier and most of these products have a simple 1 touch button on the front to transfer from vhs to dvd.
If you are willing to pay a decent amout for one i recommend the panasonic dmrez-48, you will be able to pick this up for between 220-250 pounds, i have seen it as cheap as 200 in a sale but that was over christmas.
Hope this helps