is this what i think it is?????

Water will make the oil look like chocolate .
To check compression you need to have the throttle wide open and crank the engine a good 6 to 10 times, disconnect the ignition module so the car will not fire .

throttle was not open fully (i dont normally need to touch the accelerator to start the car) and cranked engine about 3 to 4 times

obviously didnt have the correct instructions

will try again tomorrow to check the figures.

You need the throttle open to get max air in .Warm it up first ,then check

checked from cold....

will try again tomorrow then to get a meaningful reading

how do i disconnect the ignition? really trying to learn but clearly lacking knowledge/experience

Just pull the 3 pin plug of the module or pull the king lead .I wouldn't worry too much as they are all showing the same which is the most important factor .If any are over a bar different then something is up .