Thank you all for the comments.
"stuttering"...yes that is a good word to describe the problem.
Have invoked the "connection status bar" in my browser where you can read the connections progress ( I know, TD is sad
) and the connection hangs at "connecting to villagephotos.com"
I presume that this where one or other of the smileys/avatars/sigs is/are hosted.......the wee hiccup is possibly occuring on that host.
Will carry on like a brave soldier, it will no doubt clear itself up in good time.
Thank you again.