So if I mine using a mining pool (ie with my own server, not using a paid-for remote mining service where its all done on the server run by the provider) then I don't need to download the blockchain?
Correct. Only the mining pool has to download the full blockchain. When you mine with a mining pool, all the heavy load has to be done by the mining operator. Your local mining software just has to send shares to the pool as soon as possible. No blockchain has to be download locally.
That's good news. I wasn't sure if you still had to download the blockchain even if you were connected to a pool. Thanks for that. Is that pretty well a standard situation for mining pool configurations?