Oh. Hello. I didn't know we'd invited another The Archers thread round darling. How nice to see you. Discuss Ambridge here.

[PseudoBadger]

As tribute to the best SL at the moment...

Joe won't live to take part in the venture - though I hope he'll know about it before he SOTMC.

It just occurred to me last night when the SW had him take Bartleby to see the cows.

Happy talk keep talking Cow talk, talk about think you like that go moo.
Dave's gotta have a dreeeeem, if he don't have a dreeeeem, hoes he gonna have a dream come true.

I found yesterday's episode very sad indeed. I was almost in tears :( Poor Ed

Oh stop Zero and oddfodd and all, I'll be sniffing too

Call the Midwife uses up my tear quotient usually!

I Like the Cowtalk happy moos! Mina

I am hoping it will all turn around for Ed. Pip n Charlie, hmmm, I was hoping she and Rob might run off, they deserve each other. Who would go mad first.

Ed was gloomily anticipating that for some reason no-one would want to buy the herd. So, that indeed be the case but meanwhile, whatever is about to happen with Brookfield etc should happen, and so Ed and his herd will be fine and he'll be delighted at his close escape from selling them. Yup. That's how it needs to go.

Zero that's a cracking idea. Maybe they could have J.Grundy and sons painted on the milk float to honour him? Not that I'm wishing him dead yet though.

J.Grundy and sons painted on the milk float ...

Now I'm going to cry.

It makes me a bit wobbly too tbh. I can just picture it.

Thanks for the names Dairyfarmerswife I'll have a Google later.

Ppeatfruit, it was my grandfather who had a milk round, he died 35 years ago, and the family are still going on about it. The latest version is that he provided the cream for the Sidoli brother's (welsh rugby players) grandfather's ice cream parlour.
! Totally outs self to any family on here. !

The lack of financial planning is keeping me awake at night. £7m only goes so far ( channelling Ms Klaas).

But seriously, Shula's pipe dreams plans run to millions, Elizabeth gets the same, Kenton as well, leaves less than 5 to buy a new farm plus robotic parlour, plus tractor etc.

I'd like to see the spreadsheet but failing that, at least mention that they have THOUGHT about it.

Plus I'm not sure they've actually worked out the cost of the interim rental from JE - they seemed to have a discussion where D vaguely said 'market rent' and JE (rather too obligingly, I thought) agreed.

Delurking here. Love new thread title (not sure if it counts as 'new' anymore). Swinecraft is SUPERB.

And totally agree with PP who said that Tom and Charlie sound exactly the same. Hugely annoying when they think they can just switch actors willy nilly. As if we won't notice or something - when the only way we know who anyone is on a RADIO drama (as opposed to TV) is by their voice. Pip the same - just absurd.

Longing for a major Helrob incident. Can't understand why Hellin wouldn't be struggling more with Knob's refusal to take the test. Even if v. effectively brainwashed surely warning bells must be ringing, no?

choccy it was me who remembered your grandad's milk round. I think your experience is the perfect illustration of why Dan's milk round would not have been lost in the mists of time never to be spoken of again - so that now the discovery of the lost milk bottle is like an archaeological treasure which close family members are astonished to have unearthed. That's why I believe the long-lost dairy must serve a purpose in terms of moving the plot forward. It can't just be a nostalgic flight of fancy - because no one remembers it (either Archers or listeners) and that is because it never existed until the scriptwriters just invented it - and they must have done that for a reason.

Ah we ALL want to see that milk float.

It has to turn round for Ed. That family all work so hard (I know a lot of their schemes are quite funny but it's not funny that they have to keep coming up with them just to survive) and it's not fair. Obviously all the Adams and Shulas are fine because their parents are well off, whereas the Grundy kids have nothing to fall back on at all.

I hope this is a set up for David and Ed going into a retro milk business and Pip shrieking and stamping her foot into the floor like Rumplestiltskin. Can't believe that girl wanting to chuck £100k on a pointless new tractor. Is she on drugs?

All this talk if horse-drawn milk floats is making me wonder if this will all tie in with Fallon and Emma's vintage up-cycling projects (vintage tea room, with vintage tea cups and milk delivered on a vintage milk float - milked by vintage dairy maids in the fields).

I really did well up listening to Joe, it was great acting. He was so broken but so determined to be there for Ed( he always seems to have had a big soft spot for Ed, was so supportive when he was in his 'addict' runaway from home phase), but it all brought back very sad memories of when they had to leave Grange Farm originally.... That really was harrowing listening.

Ed has had too much bad luck and needs the Ambridge "fix it" fairy to intervene. A lottery win, or some massive turnaround in fortune, it's just not fair or realistic that one character has so much misfortune.

It feels like the Brookfield dairy will be resurrected....just the sale needs to fall through literally

Sorry ppeafruit - think of Bartleby instead. It's all getting v Thomas Hardy. Comely milkmaids and all :o

I would love to have my milk delivered by horse drawn cart! Would be glorious.

I'd like to think that the milk round has some major plot development significance but I've had my fingers burned making that assumption in the past with TA plotlines.

The milk round plot makes me nervous, they're resorting to creating new history for plot purposes presumably and it's but a short step from that to just going completely off canon...

I'm not sure I'd wish Pip on even Charlie to be honest, she's horrendous at the moment, it almost makes me yearn for the heady days of when she was shagging Jude.

ppeatfruit I've a rough idea that the bottle is from the 1940/50's. My dad remembers the Dairy being open (Findowrie's of Brechin)It's really thick glass & a 3rd pint, so a school bottle. Yes it is lovely, thank you
ErrolI'd love to hear a horse clip clopping any time of day.

Dundrum was one such horse who went on to great things, though I fear Bartleby may have a little too much age to emulate him.

The sale saga must be coming to a head soon, one way or anther, if Ed's cows are not going to be sold before this is set up, or is it going to be solely done with Brookfield milk?

We tried to calculate the way the Brookfield sale money would be shared a few threads ago.
I think we reckoned David gets 5 mill and the other three get 2.5 mill shared.

What with CGT, estate agent's fees, legal fees, moving costs, investment in robotics, rent to Justin and the purchase price of the new farm plus slurry management, I reckon there's not a lot of change left over to clear off the overdraft and buy Pip new toys.

I don't think there's any CGT on farms, providing the money is being reinvested, but I'm not sure about the toys that Pip is so keen to buy. I'm surprised David hasn't had a go at her for her profligate ideas.