I don't have any photos yet but I'll get some this weekend. Unfortunately it's looking properly skraggly now with half its branches gone but there are still some decent heads on it that I'll give you a look at

Seeing as though we're slap bang in winter I'm just hoping the bud rot stays away till after we've got the last bits off

Something else I just read somewhere is that very cold temperatures can cause buds to turn purple. We've had a good couple of nights below 10°C - perhaps that's the reason for the recent colouration?