Really valuable tip. Just out of interest how did you annotate you illustrative photos?

How can there be a mirror lens. A lens is a device which transmits and refracts light. A miror reflects it. Ergo - it cannot be a lens.

Opinion seems to be very much polarised. Cannot anyone give an objective opinion rather than a subjective one coloured by prejudice either to the right or to the left?

I came across this. It was a real eye-opener. I wonder how much like it the UK is.
http://www.upworthy.com/9-out-of-10-americans-are-completely-wrong-about-this-mind-blowing-fact-2?g=4&c=upw1

As mentioned Rutabagas, or Swedes, are fed to ccattle, particularly in Europe.
During WW2 German spies found the British eating swedes and sent a message back to Adolf Hitler informing him that the British had been reduced to eating cattle food, so an Axis victory could not be far off. How wrong they were.

In England it's usually called a Swede. In Scotland Rutabagas are called Neeps. On Burns night (celebrating the famous Scottish poet Robert [Rabbie} Burns) a dish called 'Tatties and Neeps'(that is boiled potatoes and Swede mashed together) accompany the Haggis (a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal's stomach and simmered for approximately three hours.) It's all washed down with many glasses of Scotch Whisky.
Believe you me, the whisky is really, really necessary.

I have spent much of today trying all the programs suggested to no avail. The last program I tried was called Magic Lantern which gets very hairy by altering the RAM in the 7D. I tried it got scared ,removed the battery and reformatted the CF card. Back to normality. Has anyone one had any joy in reolving this question?

"Adobe Lightroom 4 - the Missing FAQ" by Victoria Bampton is a very useful book. It does what its tile suggests.
Equally I endorse the comments regarding the Martin Evening book. Both authored by Brits!

My wife,Chris, bought a Sony Cybershot DSC HX200V and is highly, highly satisfied.
It does virtually everything she wishes. The 60 x zoom enables her to take shots that many other cameras would be unable to achieve. She has now had it for just over four weeks and uses it mostly for birding and other types of outdoor photography.
We are currently on a short break in North Wales (UK) and have downloaded today's shots onto the iPad. They are super.
Downside - time to process shots between clicks and lack of an adequate manual.
Her other camera is a Canon EOS 500D (rebel xxx?) together with a Sigma 150 - 500 lens, which gives her back ache at times. The Sony is so, so, light.

oops the Dropbox link is:-
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/32865303/Using%20Canon%207D%20with%20wireless%20external%20flash%20Speedlight%20430%20EX%20II.pdf

I have composed a short paper on this very topic. It is available as a PDF from my Dropbox.

I subscribe to two magazines not yet mentioned here.
The first is EOS magazine, published here in the UK - but it has a strong international following.
The second c't Digital Photography published in Germany but the edition I get is in English, this magazine has strong connections with the US. I saw and purchased my first edition in Dubai.

Hi Fran
I am a Uk 7D user. My setting for this kind of shot are:
Set appropriate white balance.
Set to use Av
Set Single-point AF
Set AI Servo (moving image)
Set drive mode high speed continuous.
Use f5.6
Use ISO 400

This should work. You might want to try fine tuning the ISO and aperture.

I guess this is a little too late for the game but I hope you team won.

Small post-industrial mill town in what is known as the Heavy Woollen district of West Yorkshire. magnificent countryside is less than an hours drive.