Now that the wet looks like its staying for a long time, what rear mudguard do you use and recommend?

Topeak defender. Got a fiddly way of clamping on the seatpost though. Would prefer one that clamped on the seat stays.

Nothing wrong with the crud catcher I have been using for years.

Crud Catcher. Simple. Strong. Works.

the crud guard is the only one that works properly.

Crud Race Guard.

one more here for the crud!

Front & rear Crud thingies. Rear one getting quite badly cracked though along it's length so will probably soon be replaced by a new one. Have had it at least 10yrs though, I think.

Just found these ones. Not used them but might stop 'speckled face' a bit? Other Topeak stuff I have used has been nicely designed etc http://www.noahsark.co.uk/topeak-defender-m1-m2-mudguards-p-3165.html

See this is something I can't understand – why people insist on paying out for brand name rear mudguards! They look shit whatever make it is.
I got one of these off Ebay – £6.
It's for my dog walking bike, but can't really see the point of paying any more – it fixes securely, you can change the angle to fit and it keeps my arse dry.

If you can clamp the crud catcher to the seat-tube rather than the post that makes it even betterer.

mate has a new, current crud rear, fitted to a 27.2 post, and it's a bit bobbins TBH. he's had to monkey about with it to a) stop it drooping, and b) stop it flailing around side to side. the latter goes along with his riding style, but nevertheless…

Are there any that would fit to the seat stays on a full suss (no v brake mounts)

The latest Crudcatcher is really badly designed, if you can find last year's (with the 3 bolt mount) it's brilliant but the new one's just an act of stupidity, held together with interference fit (on soft plastic) and friction. The only bolt relies on splines in its surface biting into the plastic of the arm, which can strip before it gets close to being tight enough to stay in place- even once you fix that (superglue, incidentally) I still found it impossible to get enough pressure to stop the blade from swivelling up and down- again, it relies on friction, this time between 2 completely smooth plastic faces. Then, the blade itself came loose and rattled.

Now that I've fixed all that stuff, it's great. But you shouldn't have to. Last years just worked.