[Farmer Girl]

Hi there
I've just taken on an allotment in Southamton and have zero experience apart from helping my dad when I was a little girl. There is a vine at the bottom of the allotment that is just sticks now (the previous owner left in November so it hasn't been touched since then). Is there anyway I can bring life back to it or is it a lost cause?
Any tips would be greatly appriciated!

[New shoot]

You should be seeing leaf buds appearing soon if they are not there already and that will be the sign that it is still alive.  Vines are real survivors, so I would not write it off just yet 

Whatever you do, don't prune it now.  They push sap up the stems with such force at this time of year, that if you cut them, they pump sap out of the wounds. 

Get it tied onto a support and let it leaf up, then you can prune later in the year when it is in full leaf.  You might sacrifice the fruit the first year, but even the most overgrown vine can usually be retrained into a productive shape 

[hightide]

Pruning outside established vines is usually done in November or some time during October to March when the vines are dormant, so the previous occupier may have already done some for you. In any case what New Shoot says is right, it would be better to let the plant do its own thing, observe and plan to train later. Vines fruit on the current years shoots which sprout from the previous years branches, so they do have to be trained; the most widely used method is called the Guyot System. Look it up on line or buy a book on that subject, that way you can compare what the plant is doing through out the growing season. I planted mine using a post and wire frame, posts ten foot apart and the first horizontal wire fourteen inches up from the ground and two more twelve inches apart after that. If there is something like that already in place then you are halfway there, I have two vines on that size frame.
 

[ptarmigan]

As a bit of reassurance, I know I'm further North than you but I wouldn't be expecting to see any signs of life in my grape vine yet.  Definitely give it a bit more time before writing it off.