Thanks for that guys, a good idea with the collapsible table there Malcolm, I just have my charts attached to a clipboard and I tend to fumble around a lot in the dark
I was thinking about a laserdot finder or a telrad too hulloleeds, I reckon they'd be a good investment eventually.
Searching through another part of this forum I also found a link to some free comprehensive star charts:
http://www.uv.es/jrtorres/
The links to downloading them are on the top right of the page under the heading TriAtlas Project. They are much more detailed than the binocular based one's I've been using (Touring the Universe Through Binoculars Atlas) so I might give them a go on another night as well.
Kind regards
Ant