I finally managed to restore the iPad, the link simon posted reminded me of a step I'd forgotten so thanks for that. Interestingly there wasn't quite enough memory available to restore all the data which has convinced me never to upgrade again without having a little memory headroom.
Safari does indeed perform better although I still really dislike how it functions. Having to scroll up to reveal the navigation buttons is a retrograde step. The new menu system that shrinks the view-port is also a terrible idea for anyone needing reading glasses.
I still can't send messages on either iPad though, they just hang the app for about 5 minutes.