Who let the cows out? Moo, moo, moo moo! Will Pip be caught out, and will Matt or Justin bowl a maiden over? Discuss The Archers here

[PseudoBadger]

'Ello pusscat!
I am eagerly anticipating Pip's downfall.

Hasn't Shula recently had strangles as well?

Momentarily I read that as 'strangled' - I'll put the champers away.

Poor Eddie - and well predicted by whoever it was.

Yes indeed - Pip is feckless, Eddie pays the price. I think this is how it will come out. Ed/Pip will fall out over it and someone will overhear the conversation.

I doubt either Toby or Pip are paying rent

I have a vague memory of the cottage being part of Pip's remuneration when they discussed letting it out after Ed/Emmur moved out. I could be a meringue.

I don't think Pip can move back into the house to allow holiday lets can she? Now that Jill lives with them I mean (although bedrooms seem to be elastic at Brookfield)

I don't think Pip can move back into the house to allow holiday lets can she?

The bedroom fairy could arrange that for Pip but I can't see Jill allowing Toby over the threshold.

It is hard to imagine a less welcome person than Toby - they couldn't possibly tolerate him moving in. Could he move back into the caravan where the hens were?

Spare room at The Bull?

Back with Bert?

He was living in the bungalow with Rex and Bert, failing to do his share of the housework of course.

If Josh is off to uni in the autumn that should make a bit of room (though of course he won't want to clear it out and will be back for vacations so not that useful). Re Ben having to help out - I've lost track, how old is he now? No mention of exams...

Pip doesn't have to move back into Brookfield if she vacates Rickyard. She could do what millions of other people do and live somewhere other than her parents' property, where she pays a market rent.

They had space for Bert so can't she use that? And if Ben just stays in the cereal cupboard, can't she have his room? I,m sure there'll be space somehow. I expect she doesn't earn enough to pay a market rent especially as there's no way Toby will contribute. She really needs to chuck him. I am finding so much of it very tiresome.

Missed the great moment! Congratulations to Ceto and many thanks to Pseudo and DDD.

Surely Pip could sleep on a pile of grain sacks in an outbuilding?

Re Shula inheriting Glebe - yes, as others have said, she was left it by Doris, Phil's mother. She lived there for years with Mark, then with Daniel, then with Daniel and Alistair. Eventually Christine decided to retire and sell the stables where she lived with George, Shula and Alistair bought them, Jill and Phil bought Glebe Cottage from Shula, Christine and George bought Woodbine Cottage (I think) from Brookfield, David and Ruth moved into Brookfield (from the bungalow) and Bert and Freda moved from Woodbine into the bungalow. Musical houses for a while.

My favourite thread by many miles!!!! Congratulations Everyone Thanks to Pseudo and Dx3 and President Olivia* !!!!!!!!!

Long may it continue !!!!!!!!!!

Yes, thank you very much indeed for this thread. It is hugely appreciated and makes listening to TA so much more enjoyable .

[From someone who posts intermittently under various nns.]

R4 The bedroom fairy could arrange that for Pip but I can't see Jill allowing Toby over the threshold.

Ah yes the Brookfield bedroom fairy. For years I was convinced it was a four bedroom house until another bedroom seemed to appear for a visitor. Then another scene left me convinced it was 3 bed.

My current thinking is 4 beds with one having an en suite (Jill's room which was made en suite for Elizabeth and the used for b&b).

Is that the general consensus?

Probably 4 bedrooms, yes. At their busiest, after Freda died, they had Bert in one, Jill in what must have been Pip's room, the boys had to share a room and moaned, and then there was the Dopeys' room. Pip was sleeping in a public room, I thought, then she moved to Rickyard.

Presumably when Jill and Phil were the parental team, the boys shared a room. It was much more usual back then, when sharing a bedroom with a sibling was regarded as okay. Elizabeth was much younger, maybe she had her own room?

Elizabeth is a lot younger than Shula so yes, I think she had her own room for a long time before she finally moved out. There was a story in the late 80s (I think) of Elizabeth demanding (and getting) her own en suite bathroom!

Kenton probably left home for the Merchant Navy at about 16 so things would have been less crowded after that. David was away at agricultural college for a time too, and he and Elizabeth had been sent to boarding school. The twins went to the grammar school in Borchester. I suspect David was not 11+ standard and that was how it started, but Phil had always wanted his children to be educated privately. Big row between him and Jill over this (before my time but I've read about it). Nice bit of continuing characterisation as Jill and Phil held onto their views all the way to Pip reaching secondary transfer stage.

I'm sure it is fine to share a bedroom but I think I would have hated it. Fortunately for me, I had one brother and no sisters, and we lived in a 3-bedroom house, so I had my own room.

I don't know if it is greed with Adam, but I can't think badly of him for wanting to be treated at least equally with Debbie, and I do think he's sincere about his desire to see the soil problem solved.

I wonder how Alice and Kate are going to take losing their cottages...

There was a story in the late 80s (I think) of Elizabeth demanding (and getting) her own en suite bathroom!

I think I recall my mother talking about this but thought it was when she was a late teen, so possibly early 80s? If so I was far too k3wl at that point to listen.

I suspect David was not 11+ standard and that was how it started, but Phil had always wanted his children to be educated privately.

Now that I definitely remember my mum talking about but it must have been a bit later on - David being older than me. I remember her making exactly that point in some discussion about grammar schools and a comment about Phil's obsession with 'private' along the lines of 'has he forgotten he isn't a Bellamy?' but I can't recall if that was at the time or when Pip was changing schools.

Josh will go to uni. Spend a load on rent and fees and then drop out after two years

I've always thought it would have been better for pip to go to the school where she would focus on her music and perhaps get her head stuck into something other than her own arse.

Weeks not years!!

Josh has no intention of going to uni. Or working his hours on the farm.