Finder stuck at "loading"
See attached screenshots of my iMac running the latest Ventura version. When changing from gallery view to column view of a folder on an SSD drive attached via Thunderbolt to my iMac I am seeing the Finder window stuck at loading for ages (many many minutes). Yet there doesn't seem to be any load factors (CPU, memory or disk I/O) that are showing as affecting this sluggish behaviour. Any suggestions?
iMac Line (2012 and Later)