mike. buckley wrote:
Well it turns out the apple tree in my new garden is an eater. :-)

It also looks like to be an early version of whatever it is, but it
seems very very early to start picking apples. They're already nice and
sweet and about half of them have a nice shade of red, they're also
starting to fall in greater numbers and will twist off easily.

That sounds a bit like Discovery (in the shops now). Take a look at one
fo the online resources with photos of apples for ID. eg.

http://www.orangepippin.com/varietyindex2.aspx

So - should I leave them or start munching? Well, cutting out the maggot
trails first anyway...

If they taste ripe and are not bitter then they should be OK. Early
apples do not keep well and are best munched from the tree (or just
underneath since they tend to drop off in profusion when ripe).

Used to have an unknown early small aromatic pure red apple withslightly
pinkish flesh in our previous garden.

Regards,
Martin Brown