Thinking about fruit trees now

Hi all

After my great successes of the veg plot this year i have cleared the side of my garden to grow things against the fence. 

Im thinking i would love to grow apricot, Cherry and fig.  I live in Essex so was thinking maybe the fig was going a bit far?

I am really looking for any advice on which varieties to choose for apricot i was looking at either "Gold rich", "Large early apricot" or "Tomcot" for cherry i dont really know but have seen a lot of the "Morello" or Stella", the fig i was thinking of "Brown Turkey".

I have just read that if i want a fig bush then i would need to fleece it everynight in cold spells, this isnt something i would want to do, i dont mind putting effort in but i wouldnt want to have to put my trees/bushes to bed everynight then not manage to one night and risk loosing my efforts.  So i kind of think a fig is too much and maybe i could get a dual apple instead?

Can anyone suggest how easy/hard apricots and cherrys are, are they likely to ripen in the uk?

I would probably espalier train or fan them to a degree, ive never done it but am happy to try, just to save space really.

Also any good internet suppliers without having to spend a small fortune?

Thanks to anyone who could offer any advice.
Many thanks
Emma

I thought about restricting the roots by planting it in a large pot - the thing that put me off was that one site said to dig it up each year and put it into a greenhouse or fleece it daily. 

If your parents' tree wasnt fleeced and survived then theres hope for me yet.  The spot i have in mind isnt very sheltered but is our sunniest spot.  We are an end terraced house most of the gardens have half fence panels but the one for the trees is full size so it may well be exposed to winds.

We have our grape vine on the same fence line that this year has produced fruit, ripening - not so sure yet - but its the first proper year of growth.

Thanks for your response, ill give it some more thought.

Hi I'm thinking on the same lines I'm replacing a south facing fence with an edible hedge but the last 8 ft is a very narrow about 6"  raised border. my neighbour suggested trellis, I could train a fig against it , it gets sun all day and is sheltered near the house. Would I need to line the trench or would the width restrict it enough.
Love the idea of fresh figs and fig jam. ummmmmmm

They grow well in E17. No fleecing etc.

There was something about this a few nights ago. Didn't really listen as I cannot stand apricots.

If I recall the information was that there are new varieties of apricots suitable for the UK and that the best had names ending in "cot". As in Gold Cot etc.

Think that was what was said, but as I said I cannot stand the things, hate the smell, taste and texture, not sure on the look of them either , so never took the information in.