I'm trying to figure out the database feature but have not come that far. Does anybody run one a nish site with a database that I can take a look at and also any advise on how to set it up would be great. 

My sites are full of Pages databases: https:/typography.guru • https://sing.salon  • https://www.typografie.info 
But I customize them a lot. So you don’t get the look from just the stock functionality. 

Have you already worked through the Pages explanations in the Guides section? I highly recommend reading it first and to follow the tutorial of building a recipe section. 

Do you know why my database gets dropped by the page I assigned it too?

Please describe in more details what you are doing and what you are seeing. 

2 minutes ago, opentype said:

Please describe in more details what you are doing and what you are seeing. 

Not sure what I'm doing ? but.. I used the page editor mode and it seems I had removed the database from it without realising it. Typical clumsy error.