Just an update on the potato clamp!
I took these babies out this evening.

They are Desiree spuds and have been in there since October. Thats six month and they are as good as the day they went in!
The only disconcerting thing is peeling the straw back and putting your arm up to your elbow in a hole to pull them out. I keep having visions of me pulling my hand out with a rat on the end of it!
A deffinate for me again next year , I guess those old Victorian gardeners certainly new a thing or three!