I would recommend garrya elliptica.
It does need wires to support it but is relatively quick to cover a wall ( or fence), is evergreen, has wonderful catkins when nothing else is around in winter, and is well behaved.

It is usually just grown as a shrub, but when grown as a wall trained shrub the catkins are shown off much better.

You could even combine it with another climber, such as a clematis or lonicera for summer interest.

there is a profile and a photo of garrya elliptica at

http://www.applegategardens.co.uk/ac...elliptica.html

linette