OK so here is what I learnt fromm this one (thanks MrYum Wazaa Halfdeck and Lemmy)
1. Long side ~550px
2. VScroll bad but HScroll worse
3. Full sized images between 50K to 100K
4. Thumbs between 5K-7K
5. Dont be lazy and put in mouseovers
6. Contrast text and background (altho the black on grey looked kinda cool
)
7. 404 error trap
Onwards and upwards... thanks a LOT guys