try skimmia, its evergreen, fragrant flowers and berries, slow growing. but you need the self fertile variety or a male and female plant.

Had you thought of training a cotoneaster horizontalis actually against the wall? They are easy to train and up to five or six feet can be self supporting. (haven't tried any higher than that)

..and other vars. Of cotoneaster can be trained as well. There are a couple of thornless hollies. Hope you find something :)

If you are prepared to put a series of wires on the wall to tie the canes to, 'Oregon Thornless' is a variety of blackberry. Then both you and the blackbirds can eat the berries.

One of the taller India Hawthorns (Raphiolepis indica)? In spite of the name, they have no thorns, though they might be too frost tender.

I hadn't heard of this one so looked it up - this link looks useful
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/3320039/How-to-grow-Indian-Hawthorn.html

Thank you for the useful suggestions. I shall try to make a decision now. I do rather like the blackberry one though.
Thanks again.

Currant bushes?......

I'd go for Cotoneaster Cornubia - always masses of bright red berries on that at this time of year, and the birds love 'em.No thorns either. Semi evergreen though - loses its leaves in a hard winter, and will need to be kept in check after 5 years or so. Responds well to cutting/clipping/pruning though, can be used as hedging.

I love Cotoneaster Cornubia, as well as masses of berries it has the white flowers that butterflies and bees go mad for. Or how about Amelanchier canadensis, the Service Berry. Fantastic white flowers on bare stems, followed by black berries the the birds will enjoy. In the autumn the leaves turn an orange to red colour. Does need an acid to neutral soil.

by "human friendly" do you mean berries that you can eat yourself? Mulberry, Blue berries, e.g.

No, by human friendly I mean one that won't tear bare arms to pieces when mowing close to it.

OK, Have you ever considered a Juniper? They are a dense evergreen with a neat habit that never needs pruning. They provide refuge for birds and small animals that need to escape a predator - they can hide in the dense foliage. Juniper berries grow in abundance and are a winter staple for all sorts of birds. Here is a link to the ones in my garden, but there are many different cultivars available. The foliage is always soft and feathery and works well for crafts like Holiday wreaths. They also smell very nice - pine.

http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/313703-spartan-juniper/member/bathgate

Cotoneaster then every time.....
so much choice, and bone hardy
loved by wildlife too

FYI, Bathgate, most Juniper cultivars are male, and don't produce berries. There are many good female varieties, though.

Not to mention that, sadly, Juniper is the other half of the life cycle for the gymnosporangium infections (pear rust, for instance) which are becoming a major problem in the UK now.

I'm getting confused now. I had thought of cotoneaster having had it before but I don't think it's dense enough for the birds. I'm now leaning to Pyracantha, not friendly I know, but - I don't mow the lawn!

Oh I don't know, Cotoneaster Cornubia is pretty dense, its nothing like C. horizontalis,, and I'd say its every bit as dense as pyracantha. Even C. franchetii is pretty dense, but that has an arching growth habit. Google 'em and look at Images... and remember, both of these will be abuzz with bees when in flower, though you're unlikely to get stung by those.

Shame about the phytophthera on juniper though. I remember someone on here lost one to it a couple of years ago. I lost one last year, though not to that.

C horizontalis can be quite dense if its clipped to lie against a wall though, and the ones we had in our last garden were usually full of little birds. .

I have a Pyracantha that was left here by the previous home owners. I hate it. It starts looking gangly if not pruned yearly and those thorns get ya every time even on the new shoots. They even pierce through leather gloves.

Gymnosporangium rust fungi rarely causes serious damage to junipers and doesn't require management in the home landscape. There are many Gymnosporangium rust fungi resistant cultivars on the market today. I haven't even heard of it until now. A fungicides will remedy it quickly. My junipers have been growing beautifully since I planted them 16 years ago. No problems to speak of.

Furthermore, be careful about being misled by half-baked information. Phytophthera is the pathogen which caused the "Irish Potato Famine." It is brought on by poor drainage and persistently wet & soggy soil, not only for junipers. It will affect many different plants that grow along riverbeds. A little research goes a long way in preventing problems and ensuring you are planting the right tree in the right location.

Fungicides permissible/available to gardeners in the UK and EU do not work on gymnosporangium infections, unfortunately, and the worry is more about the other half of the infection cycle (fruit trees in particular) rather than the Junipers themselves, because the spores are airborne. Clearly, there's a perception that it's not an issue in the States, either from a treatment or infection point of view. Not sure whether it is or isn't myself, haven't done the research for the States. Infection by the various forms of phytophthera is another matter altogether, not related to the rusts.

There is always a way to manage and deal with infections & pathogens when they strike/before they strike. No plant, tree, animal or living thing on earth is 100% immune, including us. It's the world we live in. There is a lot of preventative measures you can take through research and education.

It was a toss up between C Horizontalis or Pyracantha, both of which fitted the bill. So I've now decided that I'm going to squeeze in a C Horizontalis in the back corner where my hedgehog logs are and on the east facing front wall I shall plant the Firethorn. Best of both worlds.
Thanks to everyone for their suggestions, all of which were good.

Jolly good, decision made! Don't plant the variety P. 'Navaho' though, for some reason, the birds don't like the berries on that particular one, if you wanted something they'd like to eat as well as hide in.

Thank you for the tip, Bamboo. I do want to attract the birds so I'll go for another variety.

We had a standard cotoneaster when wwe moved here 30 years ago, because of the extendion it had to be moved, it was quite mature the top died ( nosuprise) but it grew from the rootstock into a lovely shrub full of flowers and berries
C dammeri Coral Beauty is another I like....more sprawling but easy to control, have some self seeded ones around the pond......