Dan Welch wrote:
[...]
I'm not really sure about what a quince *is* so I'll have to do
some
research - but it sounds like it might be an answer...
thanks!

The great Christopher Lloyd did an informative quince piece in the
Guardian Magazine very recently -- see if it's still there on
www.guardian.co.uk

He mentioned what I've found out too, that you only ever want far
fewer than one tree will produce. You can't eat them like apples, and
we don't all have insatiable appetites for quince jelly or apple pies
flavoured with quince. Iranian and Turkish cookery makes excellent
use of them in several different dishes, both sweet and savoury,
though.

Looks pretty in bloom and in fruit, of course. If it's of interest,
the fruit gave its name, marmelo, to marmalade. Might be the basis
for an interesting country wine, as the scent is lovely.

I planted one in a soggy spot in West Wales, and it survived, but
never amounted to much, so I think there's a limit to the amount of
ground-water it can use comfortably.

Mike.