@woodbutcher , why do you want so many speeds on the back anyway?
The most either of my drop bar bikes has got is six close ratios on my Dawes Jaguar and five wide ratios on my Raleigh Royal. Both with DT shifters of course as they are lugged 531 frames not modern plastic things!
I prefer a six speed freewheel overall, but I'd rather have 14-28 instead of the "sporty" 14-24 that the Dawes came with. The Raleigh freewheel is overly-wide range being a Touring frame. OK on the small front ring, not so OK on the big ring. On a relatively light bike being ridden unladen I feel the "sweet spot" transmission set-up is 6 x 2 and the cogs are far enough spaced to give clean changes without having indexing.