Hi Pete,
I cant really help but Im very keen to find out the answer. I can think of countless times this functionality would be useful... at the moment I need to restore a training course 100+ times with only a slightly different course name and enrolled teacher.. so please keep me posted.
The fastest way Ive found so far is to copy the URL ending in restore.php and pasting it each time, laboriously completing the last few steps of the process. I cant help but think there must be an automatic way of doing it with a looping function (possibly even an existing plugin).
Im fairly new to php, but am more than happy to have a tinker. Like you, I dont know where page contents are stored (presumably in the labyrinth that is the moodledata folder). If this turns into a bit of a project, Im happy to lend a hand over the BH and Id appreciate it if you let me into your thought process.
all the best,
oli.