It's good to hear from you paul, and nice to know I've made a decent buy for the money.
I did try my new lens out yesterday on a walk but as the light was terrible and not brought my tripod with me it didn't perform brilliantly due to the light, no tripod and lens speed, have to wait for better light I expect, It's the longest lens I've had and I guess I'll have to get used to it first to get the best out of it.
Time will tell.