Heres a further symptom if anyone can help me diagnose what I'm doing wrong. Not only does Alt+F1 not work, but using the log in screen, the Actions box, Reboot and Shutdown won't work either, the only way to escape from the login screen is to use the reset button.
I have, following the instructions on the warning panel that appears in GNOME, added the name to /etc/hosts it now reads: 127.0.0.1 localhost <tab>thomashobbes.enlightenment.net. results as above/before.
I will beat this!