Well, after weeks of having to do the flintstones style thing to start the Carlton, on the slight slope from the driveway onto the road (and I mean slight), or jump/bump starting when that's failed, and finally last night backing the thing up onto ramps to "create" a hill to start it from in the morning, I finally got a brand new battery for it. The current one I bought about 2 years ago when I got my first Carlton, and that battery switched to the CDX when the other one was sadly thankfully scrapped. For ages now it's just about got enough charge after a day of use, but if I've had the stereo on reasonably loud then that's completely buggered things.
Went into Halfords today, took the battery out of the car and in to them so they could test it, their machine said "replace battery" (said I'd had it less than a year, but it shouldn't have mattered as they are supposed to have a 3 year guarantee) - didn't have the receipt but blagged it based on the fact that the battery's got "Halfords" printed all over it.
I'm a happy bunny. It starts, without problems. Every time. I'm so happy about this that the novelty still hasn't worn off yet, and I can't get enough of just starting and stopping the thing, just to hear it turn over without struggling (disclaimer: joke).
Peter