Hi Dcr09, welcome to GOY.
Can you cloche them, if not fleece in frosty weather.

I have given up on overwintering broadbeans here in Norfolk because of cold winds. Garlic I find seems to overwinter fairly well if sheltered from the wind.

Thanks - it's really nice to get some replies! My allotment is quite sheltered so maybe the garlic will survive and I will sort out some protection for the beans. We don't get much frost these days, just gallons of water.

Hello Dc, I too have given up on early sowing beans, because of wind and field-mice. The problem with wind is that while you could sprinkle strraw to stop them blowing over, it does nothing to strengthen the stems. I've seen them grown in fields with no problem but in a small garden they blow over especially when sown in rows. If you are growing them in an open site I'd leave them to their own devices.

Garlic should survive, or at worst be set back a little. But in future it's best to plant in early November so that the green shoot isn't up too early. You should get much larger bulbs this way as spring planted garlic rarely does any good.
On broad beans, I've found here that they do very poorly overwintered, as the plants are hit back and then get some kind of bacterial disease.
You can get a crop just as early by sowing them in pots in February under cover (even lots of windowsills!) and planting out as soon as the weather improves in March (after hardening them off).
Must say broad beans are my favourite crop and I can never seem to grow enough of them. They have a very short season here as spring arrives in a hurry and then it's suddenly hot and they're all over.