This is what we sell at the nursery I work at, Fran:

http://www.gronomics.com/index.html

I don't know whether or not they ship to the UK, but it might be a place to start.

It may be better to think of what you need, Fran, and have it built for you.

thank you both!

Tugbrethil, I've alredy fallen in love with some of the items on that site and will certainly check them out further.

Bulbaholic, I'm prepared to have one made-to-measure, but - because I'm such a newbie, I don't know what's possible or even ergonomically practical - I'd probably go for something that look great but might not be so great to use

But *s* the site Tugbrethil gives will give me some ideas to work on, or from.

thank you both again

Go for bespoke to suit your needs. There may be a charity that could help by providing the labour.
I've used a timber referred to at my local yard as "gravel board". It's pressure treated with preservative and inexpensive.

'gardening for the disabled trust' (The Secretary, PO Box 285, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 9J) may be able to help you with some ideas/contacts.

Re pressure-treated lumber:
Some pressure-treated wood is impregnated with arsenic salts, and is risky to use around edible plants. It has a distinctive pale green color.

thanks to all for your helpful suggestions.

I don't think I'll be growing edibles - at least for me, I don't mind feeidn the birds and bees and butterflies - if I could only get the squirrels to leave any for them! [there's a closed-off green beyond my patch, whch has a colony of them - *s* for the first two days it was, "ooh, aren't they cute?" and ever since it's been "gerrof, you sods!"]

The only food I've ever grown is pototoes - if I don't get around to eating bought ones they start sprouting; I used to throw them, but then thought, why not? and put them in pots - worth a try, I thought. If I can find them, I'll post the pictures of my "harvests" - enough for a meal, and being home-grown makes them taste better. But I don't think I've got the space for proper veg-growing.

Since I got medically retired from work and got a lump sum payment, I can afford to have something built to my specs - it's knowing what that's the prob - I'd probably go for something that'd turn out to be impractical, just to use as much vertical space as possible But if the gardening charity can help me work out what's best for me, that'll be great.

Thank you, all

Frances

ps I worked out a temporary solution, and have posted some pics showing the result *s*