Just got back in the door, after stopping by at the agency thats more or less on my way back 
Arrived at the test centre after doing some practicing and anger management at the airfield (flattened a cone , felt so nice and more relaxed afterwards) 2 reverse’s and 1 uncoupe / couple-up. then off to the test station.
Stood waiting for 10 mins for the examiner to come out the door, when he came out he greeted me and asked me to jump into the cab. we started up and proceeded around to the emergency stop circuit. got that out the way, then it was round the very tight corner and into the reversing pad. Lined myself up, round the cone, then back into the box. jumped out to check i was far enough back. turned out i was about 3 inches too short so jumped in and a little shunt backwards and the examiner raised his hand to say ‘your done’. we then pulled forward and pulled over for 2 questions.
#1 Can you tell me how you would check the suspension is ok
A. If there was a problem with the suspension the cab / trailer body wouldnt sit properly.
#2 Can you show me how to change a tacho.
A. turn the tacho key and hinge the module forward, remove the old tacho by pulling upwards, and placing the new tacho onto the pear with the trace side facing up.
Now onto the drive.
Out the centre turning left down towards eccleshall, past the prison on the way.
through eccleshall, and upto the M6 j14, into stafford itself down the eccleshall road, down to the prison roundabout and then turned left up towards sandon. now the turn off the prison roundabout is very tight, and i had to stop for enough room to get through. the next roundabout is a small painted on one. which , in order to get round properly you just completely ignore in a truck 
. out up along to sandon. past the dog and doublet pub, and up the a51 / a34 back to stone. when we get onto to the a34 we turned off at walton roundabout back upto the test centre. pulled in and straight back round to the reverse pad (now empty) to do the trailer couple/uncouple. that went perfect. got the eye on the trailer about 6 inches from the jaws on the wagon on the initial reverse. checked it was lined up after dropping the pin lever. then rammed it home to make sure it coupled properly. examiner was happy, but at this point i wasnt sure i’d passed as i felt the drive wasnt the best in the world.
Simon turned to me and said ‘im pleased to tell you you’ve passed’ , and i breathed a sigh of releif. got my scorecard and i actually passed with only 4 minors !!! i thought it was at least 10 or 12.
so now im a proper bendy truck driver. all i can say to all the others who follow, is to keep your head up, and dont give up, as proved by myself, i thought id blown it on the drive and it turns out it went far better than i thought it did.
Thanks for the advice and tips ROG and all the others who have helped out.
Feel free to link this in your list of blogs btw ROG