Cold Comfort at Bridge Farm: Lonely Cow, Dead Cow, Greedy Cows, and Poor Blind Besotted Cows... Follow the growing herd and discuss Ambridge here!

[PseudoBadger]

Will this thread make it to the wedding? Will it outlive Tony?

Where did I get the shiny bin idea from? Must want one myself!

I'd like a shiny bin too, layla.

I've been thinking about the posh wedding - I think it could be a grand inferno the night before. Apologies if this has been discussed here already. Something is vaguely twitching in the depths of my brain. I di consider a kitchen calamity, such as the chef doing a Jean-Paul or a fire in the kitchen, but then in the circs Ian would step in to save the day. But a huge and destructive fire would mean finding a venue quickly and doing all the catering at short notice - village square or the Bull maybe, plus locals doing the food. They wouldn't be able to get a marquee at such short notice, I think.

BTW who is making the cake? It will be lost in the fire of course.

Last year I was at a hen do - stag was same weekend - in June for an August wedding. It seems it would have been nearer but various previous engagements for others. That's my only hen experience since the 1980s!

Listening again to last night's episode, I had a sudden feeling of doom about Jill with Devid and Ruth going on and on about what a treasure she is ...

What on earth has happened to the "wedding planner"? Alice is supposed to be taking the strain!

hmmm - flooding at Catheridge Hall? Electrical disaster? Some sort of disaster actually during the reception, so that the whole thing is spoilt?

This had better not be another Darrell - leading us up the garden path to a very damp squib.

I have what should be a shiny bin - does that count? It was shiny when we got it, anyway.

I think lots of people have called this right - disaster at Catheridge Hall, all hands to the pump, wedding on Bridge Farm in the barn after all. Somebody will fire up the burger van and raid Tom's cold store at the business units, and the wedding food will be: hot dogs, bacon rolls, hamburgers - I don't think a pig roast could be organised at a few hours' notice, could it? Lots of Bridge Farm ice cream and the Bull will provide a few barrels of Shires. The Grundy cider club would be useful too. Even Elizabeth could throw in some Lower Loxley wine.

Big family reconciliation will follow. Please!

V good point about Alice zero!!

Am watching mary berry doing cold salmon. She says she serves fillet portions instead of a whole salmon because the whole fish is difficult for people to serve themselves and thy don't want to spoil the decoration by cutting into it never been a problem in my family tbh

Where were you in December when Jess needed you mary eh?

Willie.

I think the time given to Jill's recollections of Catheridge Hall, including a description as "part hogwarts, part disney castle", or whatever, harbinges doom. Her recollection of the scaffolding around the front entrance is a foreshadow of worse to come. If not, this wedding has got to be a car crash in some respect;

Rob + Alcohol + any of the people he's fucked off recently = car crash

Tipsy Helen + controlling Rob + appalled onlookers = car crash

Helen + Moany + Pat + Tom = perpetual car crash.

Archers in vicinity of stately home with sloping roof = crash

Oh dear, I think Mimsy has it. They'll have to run the burger van and eat the sausages and ice cream, while nibbling on carrots from the veg boxes. Poor Kirsty. :(

I hate to break it to you, but Catheridge Hall has been there all the time. I don't know why they haven't put it in a storyline before, as it is such an amazing building. It was built by a Victorian industrialist and is very OTT, described by Pevsner as "the showiest of them in all the county". link

That looks very impressive, no w

No wonder Tom & Kirsty are excited.

I have been married since the dawn of time and can't relate to the enormous wedding extravaganzas that now seem to be so common. I would much rather have a relaxed do with tasty, simple food and a few drinks than an eye-wateringly expensive reception with seatbacks and wedding favours and choreographed first dances etc etc, with the added advantage that it wouldn't leave the new couple up to their eyes in debt.

it's all going to go tits up anyway when Gran finds out how much they're spending on the house

all very odd - can't wait

R4 as soon as they described Catheridge Hall I thought of Chateau Impney too!

For about five minutes, I actually considered having my own wedding reception there but when we investigated we found that they made you book all the bedrooms as well (for your guests) but insisted the bride and groom stay elsewhere. Bizarre. So we booked somewhere cheaper which let us do what we wanted.

Although looking at the website, they seem not to have those rules any more, before someone from Chateau Impney complains!

Someone upthread asked if Shula had been to uni. No, she was a promising showjumper, taught by her Auntie Chris. There was even a guest appearance by a well-known showjumper of the day, to assess her. She ended up working at an estate agents, and studied really hard to pass her estate agent exams. I seem to have a vague memory of her having a dalliance with the young Nigel in a cornfield (Elizabeth, being the younger sister, wasn't really on the scene then), and of course the young Neil, who then worked at Brookfield, had a terrible crush on her.

Oh dear, that really is hideous!

Of course, that was in the days when Nigel was still larking about in his gorilla suit

I don't think a pig roast could be organised at a few hours' notice, could it?
Oh, I should imagine someone could sacrifice one of Tom's weaners pretty sharpish. But then...Rob would take over cooking it, that much meat being a Real Man's Job - with the result that the only people to survive the ensuing undercooked pork plague would be vegetarians(Usha? Anyone else?) and Ifty (not that he's invited anyway afaik unless Lizzie suddenly remembers she should find a +1).

Perhaps that would SATTC a bit too much.

I seem to have a vague memory of her having a dalliance with the young Nigel in a cornfield (Elizabeth, being the younger sister, wasn't really on the scene then), and of course the young Neil, who then worked at Brookfield, had a terrible crush on her

I have that vague memory too, Pussycat

but in mine she was in a tent - in the cornfield or wherever - with yet another young buck (Tim Beauchamp???) & Nigel & Neil had a mutual commiseration session at the gate of the field

could I have just made that up???

I remember there being a Tim Beauchamp, but in those days I was an ominivore - if I was at home (and if I was also awake!) in my rented student house on a Sunday, so may have missed Shula and Tim in the tent!

Wasn't Tim Beauchamp an even bigger twit than Nigel when Nigel was hanging out with Shula before she met Mark? I've just found something saying that Shula & Nigel drove off in what they thought was Tim B's car when they found it parked outside Nelson's Winebar with the keys inside. Nigel had drunk too much so Shula drove & was stopped by the police. Mark helped her get off.

I thought it was surprising Nigel made the transition from thinking of Elizabeth as Shula's little sister to fanciable in 1991.