Jhieminga, thanks, I removed the Google account details, then was able to install Gmail in the imail app. Hopefully it is using the gmail servers.
Report: after lots of Googling, so far I've come up with this:
1. Create a contact using the group name in the "Company" field eg Blogstrip
2. In the email section, type in all the email addresses you want in the group, separated by a comma and space eg
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected] and save it.
3. To send, open Contacts, tap on the contact (Blogstrip), then tap on the blue "mail" button. The To field will be populated with the emails of the Blogstrip contact (I did try the direct method by tapping on To, then +, then the contact, but it didn't seem to work; an email was sent only to the last on the list of emails in the contact).
4. Compose and send away.
So, a variation on QA1's method...
I did set up a group in icloud contacts, and that group appeared on the ipad, but I couldn't see a way of sending to all of the group in one hit; I had to tap on each one in turn, via the + button, to put them in the To field.
So, getting there... thanks for your help so far.
