Brake fluid

My 1990 atmo (60k miles) has been used very little recently. The clutch has started to engage sharply and reverse is very sticky. Even though the brake fluid is only 18 months old, I'm wondering if it needs to be changed.

Should I trust my local Halfords Autocentre/Kwik Fit to change it to save having to take it to Roadspeed?

More likely is that the clutch master or slave cylinder is leaking past the seal, so not giving full travel at the clutch fork.

You could try bleeding the system, has yours got dot 5 brake fluid as this happened to my 610 when it had old fluid which I thinkist of been dot 4! So changed it to some fresh dot 5 and it has been spot on even on a very hot day! If it is still the same afterwards then it looks like your seals have started to go bud!
Good luck with it bud.

I don't have full clutch travel, so sounds like the master/slave cylinder. Thanks for the suggestions.

If the clutch master cylinder is leaking past the cup you will be able to see the fluid at the back of the cylinder in the pedal area in the footwell behind the plastic shield. At least on an atmo the clutch slave is reasonably accessible.

Thanks Alan.

So if the master or slave cylinders need replacing, is that something a competent non-specialist (Alpine) could do?

You should try to find out which of the cylinders is at fault.....if, in fact, one of them is. As Alan says, if you look behind the pedal box cover, if it is the master cylinder at fault, you should see it leaking into the foot well,.... and as the slave cylinder on the atmo is quite visible, once again, you should be able to detect if that is leaking. It is unlikely both have failed.
The other thing to check is the fluid level in the reservoir....if the level drops too much, the clutch is the first to show an apparent fault.