I'm really embarrassed to admit that when trying to backup the database from the forum I in fact restored an old copy by accident. Two years old to precise.
To add insult to injury the daily backups that I presumed had been running all this time (since switching to a new server) have in fact not been running. I've spoken to the host and there is nothing that can be done. The site is run on a dedicated plan so it's not their responsibility.
I know the forums have been quieter over the last few years so no major site content has gone missing but I appreciate two years of posts is still a lot. Rest assured I feel incredibly stupid to have made such a newbie error.
I'm really sorry
If posts are needed there should be some of the recent ones on the web archive - https://web.archive.org/web/20160325064658/http://www.interlopers.net/forum/