Is now complete and very lovely thanks Tim, it’s very quick indeed certainly with road tyres on it, I intend to fit Cross tyres as soon as the weather gets really nasty.

The final specification is
Chris King Headset
Ultegra cranks single 42 tooth ring and bottom bracket
Shimano  R600 brake levers
Shimano XT Cantilever brakes
Easton EA70 120mm long stem
Bontrager Crosslite bars (drop bars that fit in a MTB stem what a clever idea)
Thomson Elite seatpost (to be swapped for  an Easton EA50)
Avid cables (with M part adjusters that let me tension my brake cables as I ride along)
Paul High Flange Hubs  and Mavic Open Pro rims with DT spokes make lovely wheels.
Rolls saddle

so far I’ve only used it for commuting at which it excels very stable and very fast, and a slightly higher position than I’m used to that let’s me have a better view in traffic which is just fantastic. The Thomson post needs to be replaced with a black layback post to make the bike look just so and also to make the position spot on. The Rolls saddle although very old school and very heavy by modern terms is incredibly comfortable, so comfortable I’ve had to buy a matching one for my Voodoo Aizan 29er. My favourite thing on this bike are the inline brake cable adjusters that let me adjust both brakes on the “fly” they just work and allow a slightly less torturous cable roting than normal on a cross bike.