The message
from "Glen Able" contains
these words:

I'd really appreciate some help getting started planning this - particularly
a) nice/vigourous shrubs/combinations of shrubs for my purpose
b) how I lay out the border other than in a straight thin line which'll
probably make the garden look even longer and narrower
c) how to get some instant height in there, so there's some privacy further
up the garden at least.

For fast vigourous screening up to 8ft or more, in the shortest
possible time, I suggest buddlieas. They are cheap and foolproof,
terribly easy to propagate your own if you can find a donor.

A long thin garden like that can be divided into sections, with
hedges/shrubberies/trellis across ways. This can actually make the
garden seem a lot bigger than it is, because you don't see it all at
once. It would also considerably improve your privacy at the house end
of it. Paths and views don't have to go straight down the middle. If you
go to your local library you'll find loads of garden design books with
similar suggestions and details how to do it; the divisions-thing is
commonly called "dividing a garden into rooms".

Janet