Upon my return I was somewhat dismayed to find a list of failure faults:
Both front struts leaking fluid.
Balljoints on front suspension have split gaiters.
Rear suspension unit leaking fluid.
I drove back home,and got it up on the ramps to have a look. Fair enough, one drop link, which I think was an original, was looking the worse for wear. I replaced both of them with Lemforder ones.
The rest of the suspension looked fine.
Leaking front struts? Nothing apart from the usual slight dampness you see when the suspension is raised up to its maximum height.
One of the low pressure return pipes had leaked a bit where it's goes into another pipe at the back of the wheel arch, this just need pushing home properly.
The nearside rear suspension unit was indeed covered with a light layer of oily dirt, but that was about all. I gave it a good session with degreaser and then washed it all off, everything looked fine.
Another MOT was booked with different garage and it sailed through, the only advisory being for some stone chips on the windscreen.
4 weeks later I still can't see any evidence of leakage on the rear unit, so I'll just keep an eye on it, and not rush into getting it replaced.
Now I'm all set for another 12 months of motoring I hope.
