I'm with Mr. Average. I recall the Southend accident very well, although the circumstances (fully ATC tower, a/c on final, student 1st solo etc) are a little different, but the principals are the same.
At our air/ground (sometimes no ground at all) airfield we teach 'extend downwind leg' or 'go around at circuit height/altitude'. NEVER orbit ANYWHERE in the circuit. You might meet someone coming the other way!
I learned to fly at Denham and later did my FI course there. It was a very strict policy for the baulked landing of 'go around at circuit altitude'. There was the 'option' of an early crosswind turn provided there was no traffic already downwind.
Interesting to watch the arrivals on you tube at Oshkosh, where there are different coloured spots down the runway. However, I don't think anyone would be amused if you chose to do an orbit on final. In fact, I think the instruction is to go-around and go back to the beginning of the procedure.
Going back to Pilot DAR's main point...
How sure were you of the experience of the pilot who was in your way? I'd also say it's better if you're not completely sure to land with space to spare, rather than go off the end. There's another you tube posting form a guy called Juan Browns featuring a Cirrus that landed long, went off the end and slightly bent the aircraft (including shock loading the engine). Slightly worse, I'd say, than slightly inconveniencing another aircraft behind you by landing early and strolling down the runway.
At the other end of the scale, I used to work at the World's busiest single-runway airport. We had a system that measured runway occupancy times to the nearest second. Any operator/airline that spent more runway occupancy time than was considered normal was 'written to'. We spent millions on building fast turnoffs that could be safely taken at 60kt and featured countdown marks and lights (RETILS) to encourage proper planning of runway exit. The worst anyone can do is to brake hard for an early exit, then miss it and dawdle down to the next one.
TOO