I rode this again today, on my way to deliver a dvd to my bicycle instructor. It's definitely getting easier, I got much further up the initial hill before stopping, and coming back I got within a few metres of the top of the tarmaced hill. I think I should crack it in the next couple of weeks as I'm at the point where my nerve is failing rather than my legs. Today I learned that going up a hill in too low a gear is almost as hard work as going up a hill in too high a gear. But I got out of my granny gear on the tarmac!