Trying to convince myself that things are not so bad, let me throw this one at you......
I have read about something called the oil cooler. I think I read that involves oil and water loss. Do you think there is any chance it could be that. I do have a slight oil loss and a slight coolant loss. And I do mean slight, but its there. There are no puddles of oil underneath on the floor, but........when I had my MOT done, there was a patch of water under the middle to nearside of the car on the floor. I had topped up the water, possibly a bit high. Would that be over flow (car driven 3 miles) or related to this problem.
I'll try to get the car up on ramps so I can get under and degrease it and check for new deposits and colour.
When I checked it yesterday, it did not seem to be red. Just seemed like oil.

Incidently....the car runs sweet. And by other threads, I think HG can be ruled out.