location, location, location!!!

amazingly when we reset the location of the static mesh to 0,0,0 using the advice in http://www.3dbuzz.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=165993

[right click on the static mesh, select StaticMeshActorProperties from the dropdown, under the Movement header, select and change the locations of the object to 0,0,0]

,the mesh/model blew up to the accurate size (as it was like a small dot when we imported it :P) and then the view was not locked anymore, odd...