Sweet peas are scented and will grow away all summer. (Buy pot grown ones from a nursery they will die off at the end of the year though). Clematis do well with their roots in the shade, lots of different varieties. Jasmine or honeysuckle will also look good and like the clematis will be around for years.
Or runner beans, nice flowers and a veg you can eat.
Hope this helps.

Thank you, I'll have a browse on ebay, my cousin has got jasmine in her garden and it smells heavenly. Clematis is gorgeous too...
I nearly bought a russian vine but then I read it can engulf a house in one season!

I agree with Trees. Honeysuckle Graham Thomas is a good one and any Clematis too. We have only been in our home 3 years and have honeysuckle and clematis growing over our arch in the back garden. The effect is stunning and it didn't take long to look good. Beats the undies any day :D

ive got a cherry tree growing as a climber over my arch well my old frame of a swing lols .i just thaught id tell you that as you seam the sort of person who likes something a bit different .not that it grows realy quick .you could grow quicker climbers realisticly though as trees says .anyway take care bye for now lol .

Thanks for the brilliant suggestions, clematis and honeysuckle sound like they would be gorgeous together, so does the cherry tree Idea.
I've just realised by the way that I was supposed to put the subject of the question in the title, so I will do that next time- I'll get the hang of this eventually sorry for being a bit slow.

weve all got to start somewear lol xx

HI FLO.... i too have one of these arches,but i made 2 errors last year...i put a clematis & a hunnysuckle together on one side & the hunnysuckle has reached the top in jst one year but the clematis has struggled abit to compete wth the suckle, it still flowers but only reaches about 2 & half foot....my second error concerns what i thought was a climing rose that i bought for the other side, it too has flowered last year but i never knew there was a "sit down" variety of rose it has not moved..... nevermind i shall endeavor,rome wasnt built in a day. ;)

Very entertaining question, floweryapron, made me laugh out loud. I don't think, from a quick perusal, anyone else has mentioned this one, but have a look at Trachleospermum jasminoides. The only proviso is that your garden, or that particular spot, isn't a frost pocket, or exposed to strong northerly winds in the winter. T. jasminoides isn't tender exactly, but it prefers a sheltered sunny spot. Evergreen climber with fragrant white flowers in summer, bit slow to start, but once its away its fine.

A year ago I planted Jasmine officinale 'Fiona Sunrise' on one side of an arch with Honeysuckle lonicera 'Golden Trumpet on the other. Pleased to say both are thriving.

Well today we went to ALDI and I got 2 honeysuckle plants for £5.00! they look nice and healthy so I will pop them in tomorrow, one to go over the arch and the other to make it's way along the fence. On the labels it says one is called 'Belgica' and the other one is 'Darts World' !?
There's another arch I've built as you enter the garden so jasmine and clematis for that would be fab. From what I remember before they knocked the house down and re built it, the garden is pretty chilly in the winter as we are in a valley, but it is sheltered to a certain extent by houses all around..
Rome was not bult in a day indeed, althogh it looks like it was now!
Thank you peeps.

Sorry to dissent, but I'd never plant Jasmine officinale on an arch - well not unless it was an arch 20 feet long, that is. It gets 30 feet tall by about 10 feet wide, and within five years of planting it on a normal sized arch, napalm might be called for to deal with it...