Anyone for a fondant fancy? Let The Archers eat cake...

[PseudoBadger]

TA is in a purple patch at the moment, rewarding listeners for wading through the dross of the previous year few months. Welcome all!

I presume, after Mark died, and she got granny's house, Shula must have been quite wealthy. Did she acquire the Stables when she married the vet? I suppose they couldn't have two businesses running from Glebe Cottage. Where would she house the horses after all?

Tony is the one who seems to be suffering for Pat's organic principles.

Compos, maybe that's why peggoi dislikes Pat? She sees her son being worked into the ground, albeit naice organic ground.

Shula bought the stables from Christine didn't she?

I think there may be some truth in that.

As much as I don't like peggoi I can see why she's thinkthat

Basketz (bearing in mind that whatever I claim to "remember" will probably need correcting....) Shula acquired the Stables, as a going concern, when Christine decided to retire.

I do recall feeling astonished, (on reading the Chronology linked in the previous thread) at what a merry-go-round of inherited property Ambridge has been and continues to be.

Although Helen might well have been squirming tonight I was more concerned that she might take the opportunity of the bridal shop outing to try on and reserve her very own wedding dress......

To be fair though big farms tend to have a lot of property on them and it does get swapped around as siblings and generations come and go, the farming family we know has chopped and changed people around numerous times in the last 30 years.

There must be a reason for PC Plot Plod to still be hanging around, has anyone ever rung up the police repeatedly asking for updates after a burglary, particularly what sounded like a fairly run of the mill breaking and entering?

Glad they finally mentioned the floods though!

I'd like to think there was a reason for PC Plod hanging around but TA has massive amounts of form for storylines drifting off into the ether

at PC Plot, usefully signalling to all us thickies to look out for elderly relatives who may have had the trauma of a break-in, which was nicely juxtaposed with Ruth telling the littlest Archer that they didn't have time to pop in to see poor traumatised Jill. And adding to the who is going to have Granny to live with them arguments.

I'd forgotten Christine had run the stables. I do recall Shula buying the business now. No need for corrections then, Zero.

Am I just being a cynical listener from the northern provinces, in thinking the flooding only gets mention by a topical insert when it reaches Berkshire and other Home Counties? (and so closer to London and beeb HQ) The poor folk of Somerset, Dorset, Cornwall, and elsewhere have been flooded for weeks now.

There has been flooding on and off for weeks in the Home Counties (not as bad as Somerset of course). It's more the SW in London don't really realise until its on the news.

I think they put it in because the weather still hasn't changed, they must have edited something out to insert it. Normally it's all recorded 6 weeks in advance I think, it isn't supposed to be a running commentary on news stories.

Doesn't Helen have any sense? She is so self-absorbed, surely Jess couldn't have fitted all her lamps, favorite saucepans etc in the car in one load when she left before Christmas?

I guess they don't add that stuff in until they absolutely have to, and they've finally decided it's unavoidable.

Tbh living in the Home Counties can sometimes be worse in terms of London dominating the news, because you're so close that even the local news is basically London news iyswim.

A pedant writes: the production is based in Brum and very few of the writers live in London. Interesting David mentioned Worcester as I've always assumed Felpersham bears a close resemblance to Worcester.

I doubt it's an awareness thing, it's more that you don't know how long something is going to go on until it does iyswim.

they must have edited something out to insert it.
I've always assumed that all episodes will have a little bit of ditchable conversation to allow for essential topical inserts.

I was about to point put that Worcester isn't home counties by any definition I know. Iassumed Borceter is Worcester and Felpersham maybe Evesham. As Borceter must be the county town surely?

i didn't mean that it was in the home counties. i was responding to comments about only home counties / London news seeming to be relevant. i was trying to say that if you live close to london but not in it, like in the home counties, your news is still dominated by london stuff so that london-centricity can feel just as bad as or worse than if you are in, say, birmingham

i don't think borchester is supposed to be worcester at all - it's a fictional place in its own right squished in between real counties

I am with you Basketz on the Pat/Tony/Peggy issue, I think she does not like the way Pat has had her way re the farm, and by inference Tony is weak like his father, unlike the wonderful husband that Brian has been to Jenny, who chose the right one.
Unless they live in an alternate universe, this wet weather has to have a huge impact on their farming.

I think Peggy thinks he's more than weak - telling Jill that she thinks Tony is like his alcoholic feckless waste of space dad is tantamount to saying that she has zero respect for him (or even much affection!)

Tony would be devastated if he heard that.

And yes, the weather would have affected them. Where I live has never featured on the news but most of the fields are under water

yy minimammoth - i listen to farming today most mornings and it's having a huge impact. this morning they were talking about farmers in other areas of the UK donating animal feed to farmers in somerset (which the farmers in other areas can ill afford but the need is greater in the west country), with haulage firms providing transport of the goods free of charge. it would be nice to have a bit about that - farmers rallying together etc

Oddfod Tony did hear that - Peggy said to him 'you're so like your father' at FondantGate.

The Jess thing is annoying me now - surely when Hellin's and Kirsty had The Creepy Bed conversation something would have been mentioned about Jess's stuff and what's happening with the divorce?

Maybe Rob's business meeting is a convenient plot device to enable Jess to turn up with a helium heart balloon on valentines day?

I know conferences often run at weekends, but it'snot a conference is it? It's a machinery demonstration - he said that to Pat and Tony. On a Friday night? Pah!

true - i couldn't remember whether he'd given details of his trip. i suppose it could be a wining and dining type corporate thing...

but we all know it isn't really , it's just incredible that no one else does!

mind you wouldn't brian know where he's off to? wouldn't he sign off rob's travel expenses or something?

no one is asking the important questions here!