Any thorns on it, because the flowers look like crataegus persimilis 'Prunifolia', which has mighty inch/inch and a half long spines. It fruits like a big hawthorn. Those autumn leaves don't look like the same plant, though, too pointed by comparison with the ones below.

I thought it was a form of Hawthorn too, but not sure which one.

No Hortum no thorns on it. I googgled your suggestion and it is definitely not that one. The leaves are longer and narrower whereas the crataegus has broader leaves. The fruit is more like blueberries only more red. I thought maybe amelanchier canadensis but the flowers are not right compared to the one I have. The difference in the leaves is probably due to camera angle. You can see the wall behind with plastic coated trellis on it. I have a 10" border around the patio and it has grown there. The soil is peat and old lime mortar from the building we knocked down. The berry has a soft skin and shame on me for tasting something I can not id but it was sweet and sharp and faintly perfumed.

how about a sour cherry Prunus cerasus? did it have a stone in the middle? or smaller seeds?
or P.avian a wild cherry or Gean?

the leaf is lobed in hawthorn any way and these clearly aren't.

Thank you. The flowers look a bit like the Prunus cerasus but are only 1cm in diameter. The fruit has many seeds inside but they are not huge and certainly not like a cherry stone.

The red leaves and red anthers with those cranberry-like berries made me think of Chokeberry but not sure whether it's cultivated in uk. (Just checked it - Burncoose are selling it)
Very pretty gift from the gods (good pic of flowers at http://plantfinder.sunset.com/plant-details.jsp?id=3230)

Thank you Urbanite I think you have the answer. Binny Plants nursery sells several different ones. I think this must be the red chokeberry. As you say a very pretty gift. Now I can eat the berries and not worry about poisoning myself. The red chokeberry or Aronia arbutifolia is sold in various outlets see the RHS plant finder.

I love Binny's.

Are you an expat now living in England or do you use their internet catalogue? I dk if we are talking about the same Binnys owned by Billy Carruthers but it is a great place to visit being in a walled garden of a large mansion now used as a hospital/nursing home.

We grow the Black chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa. The berries make a superb sharp tasting jam. Only the juice is used as the seeds of this plant are full of cyanins so are very bitter.

Goy members are so helpful. Thank you all. I think I will have to transfer my seedling to somewhere with more growing space. Owdboggy you must have a sizeable plant to be able to make jam.

Thanks to Hortum cret who pm'd to say it was in Hilliers Manual, I looked it up and found it got an RHS, AGM, Award of Garden Merit in 1936 and an AM, Award of Merit in 1974. Is this another plant which is due for a revival. I'm surprised we do not hear about it more often.

Our Aronia is about 6 feet by 6 feet, it produces enough berries to make about 6 normal size jars of jam. Possibly get more as we only make as much as I can eat.
Fewer may be eked out with apples.
Blackbirds adore them so to get berries you need to protect the fruit.

That is good.

Yes SG - Binny's on the edge of Edinburgh. I go to Edinburgh 2-3 times a year (wish I could go more often). I love peonies and ordered one a long time ago (possibly pre-Internet) by mail order and then 'discovered' them in the flesh a couple of years ago. They are at the top of my wish list for plants for the new patch, closely followed by Edrom over near Berwick as they have a fantastic range of plants for shade.

Binny is the favourite nursery of Scottish (fellow member). We both live west of Edinburgh and not too far away from Binny. I live practically next door to Hopetoun New Garden Centre. Dougals wife is a presenter on Beechgrove Garden.