🐴 Archers thread 124: And they're off! Pip on a high horse, Kirsty champing at the bit to find the lost ‘horses’, Alice on the wagon (or is she riding for a fall?). Discuss The Archers here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

All views on The Archers welcome here! New blood welcomed. We don't all agree on all points and most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you think Shula would make a brilliant vicar, or other unusual views.

Spoilers: not on this thread, please. We don't wait for the omnibus to discuss the weeknight episodes, but we do try our best to avoid cross-contamination from www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3853783--The-Archers-spoilers-thread-5-Cant-wait-for-7-02pm-Join-us-here, where spoilers are positively welcomed!

For newer listeners, lurkers or those who just have no idea what we're talking about, @DadDadDad has created this useful thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3557323-For-Archers-fans-a-guide-to-acronyms-on-the-long-running-discussion-threads-and-any-other-meta-thread-questions-you-may-have - BOOP point for him! (See thread for explanation.)

Thanks to @PoulePouletteEternellement for the equine theme to the new thread title. I wanted to work in Rex being a dark horse and lots of others too, but (you may feel fortunately) there's a character limit for the title.

I wonder if this thread will see us through to the end of February. The last one filled up in under a month, which was like old times. All depends on what delights are in store for us in the coming weeks, I suppose. I'm hoping that Gavin has spilled the beans on Victoria, she's also arrested, and the lads are found. Having said that, I'm not confident that in the real world they would get the support and care they need to turn their lives around and get proper jobs. It was good to hear on the last thread from @Trickyboy, who has professional experience of investigating this vile crime. Any comments on how things turn out in the long run for those rescued?

Not a big one no

I used to live in South-West London and there was some seriously good Amdram around, including I suspect a number of frustrated trained actors. There was also a very good youth group where I seem to remember Martin Freeman and Rufus Sewell started out.

@FredSoftly

Is Evie the doctor?

Evie was the archaeologist. I think the doctor was called Chloe.

I know Ruth has worked hard on the farm for all these years but isn’t she forgetting that the farm is actually David’s family farm which has belonged to the Archers for generations. She was literally acting as if the farm belonged to her and Pip but that they would generously share it because David has been around a long time and does a lot of the donkey work. I’m not surprised he is feeling edged out- because he is. All that stuff about him being the main cog in the Brookfield wheel was just flannel.

She is only an Archer by marriage. I know that sounds a bit old-fashioned but it does feel important in this context.

Rufus Sewell ...

Returning to reality [sigh], I really hope it's the calm before the storm with Chris and Alice. All going far too well there.

They got my hopes up there when David said 'it's not just the farm, it's us' but everything was hunky dory again in a nanosecond. Cowards.

I think we'll have a new thread this evening, unless you all have a burst of loquaciousness!

Ruth gets everything her way again. She has my vote for succumbing to COVID as soon as possible. It’s clear where Pip’s selfish self-regard comes from.

I don't understand Ruth's logic at all. Apparently, sheep are not a good idea because of Brexit (this wasn't really explained but I suppose the farming-listeners know what she means). But it doesn't follow that Brookfield should go cow-only; there are other things they could be doing. It's madness to put all their eggs in one basket.
Does anybody ever calculate the return on investment of all Ruth's schemes? She has no sooner spent half a million on 'the latest advance in cow technology' than she is on to the next fad. How does Brookfield have any money left?

Apparently, sheep are not a good idea because of Brexit

Ooh, I have put my hand up and am waving excitedly, please ask meee, R4. I think there are two main reasons. Until now, Most British lamb was exported, especially to EU countries. Obviously now, British lamb will be more complicated and expensive to import. The other reason is that sheep farmers got subsidies from the EU, especially hillside sheep farmers, like in Cumbria where it's harder to do other sorts of farming.

I am only an occasional slightly involuntary listener to Farming Today so please don't think of me as a shepherdess who might be a more reliable informant.

I've rarely heard such heavy duty signalling that Alice is about to fall off the wagon. Being left on her own, Chris stoutly maintaining that it's totally impossible, Alice likewise - it can only go one way. But I wish Harrison had pointed out that having children isn't the magic protection against addiction that Chris thinks it is, witness all the addicts who do have children.

Thanks, nettie. I must admit that I don't understand sheep farming. It seems to me that you abandon a sheep up a mountainside (which has no other farming value) and collect it several months later. You might do the occasional sheep-dip and a yearly haircut but, apart from that, they are fairly self-sufficient. There doesn't seem much else to it, unlike cattle which need to be overwintered in a barn (money), given artificial feed (money) and have vet attention (more money!). So why the price of lamb is so high I have no idea, unless it is all in the butchery costs.

Actually I was quite pleased that Harrison left Chris on good terms. I thought we were going down the route of Chris doesn’t listen to Harrison’s warnings-Alice falls off wagon-Harrison notices-Harrison tells Chris-Chris rejects Harrison on the basis that he’s ‘just trying to ruin things and prove that he was right’.

I also thought it was very realistic that Chris didn’t want any doses of realism from Harrison, however well-intentioned. He has to believe that Alice has beaten this because otherwise life is very difficult for him/them going forward. Surely most alcoholics and their families are like this at least initially. Most addicts will have a relapse (or more than one) at some point but Alice hasn’t done that yet as far as we know. She won’t be the first addict to think she’s got it nailed.

I did think it was good news that she recognised Chris’ need for support from his friend though - definite maturity compared to where she was a few weeks ago.

But agree that the sweetness-and-light picture currently can only mean trouble ahead...

I don’t know much about sheep farming either (pigs and cows, a bit). But I presume you have to move the sheep around a fair bit otherwise what’s the point of Bess? And I presume they need just as much vet attention as cows.

Depends a bit on your sheep farming type. In Dorset, they would probably be moved between fields, and then into a barn for lambing, and also gathered for dipping and shearing. I assume this is mostly how Ambridge works. For hill farming, they will go out on the hills , and know their area, but get brought down for shearing and dipping and winter/lambing.

They probably don't get as much attention from vets as cows - dairy cows you handle twice a day (except with a robotic parlour, I suppose,)but not many people milk sheep. Also, milk is going into the food chain, so gets closer attention. You do check all livestock every day and check for any with clear physical injury, limping and so on, or just looking off-colour, keeping to itself, where you might pay a closer eye, or separate it out if you're worried. But hill sheep up on the hills even if you take a quad bike up to take a look, it's not the same as having them in an enclosed field.

@R4

Thanks, nettie. I must admit that I don't understand sheep farming. It seems to me that you abandon a sheep up a mountainside (which has no other farming value) and collect it several months later. You might do the occasional sheep-dip and a yearly haircut but, apart from that, they are fairly self-sufficient. There doesn't seem much else to it, unlike cattle which need to be overwintered in a barn (money), given artificial feed (money) and have vet attention (more money!). So why the price of lamb is so high I have no idea, unless it is all in the butchery costs.

www.instagram.com/yorkshireshepherdess/

Amanda, herself, admits she earns as much now from writing about sheep farming as from the sheep farming itself. Her Instagram (although now sponsored I think) shows a lot of the work she does, she has also written several books. She definitely doesn't just turn the sheep out and then pick them up a few months later.

Wasn't there at least a hint that Alice was already drinking again, a month or so ago? Can't remember what exactly.

@WitchWife

Why is Ruth like some kind of doddery old man? Is there an age gap?

WitchWife Why is Ruth treating David like some kind of doddery old man? Is there an age gap?

Yes. She was born in June 1968, he was born in September 1959. There is an age-gap of eight years and nine months, which isn't negligible.

For sheep farming 'Rams' is a good film. I watched the Icelandic original rather than the Australiam remake.

@JanFebAnyMonth

Wasn't there at least a hint that Alice was already drinking again, a month or so ago? Can't remember what exactly.

There was a weird little ‘bit’ where Chris said ‘oh what, you bought ice cream’ and she said ‘yes i went to the shop’ and it seemed so pointless and strange so i assumed it was a big ‘look, chris has taken his foot off the gas wrt monitoring alice’s every movement and purchase’ moment.

New thread time! www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/4176525--Archers-thread-125-Ambridge-Mysteries-The-Case-Of-The-Missing-Pandemic-Where-Is-Pat-What-Is-Lynda-Snells-Kompromat-Follow-the-clues-and-discuss-The-Archers-here?watched=1

MadameButterface
There was a weird little ‘bit’ where Chris said ‘oh what, you bought ice cream’ and she said ‘yes i went to the shop’

Alice was quite specific that she had come straight from work because she was in a panic about Chris and thought that cold would be good for his bruised hand, and that the ice-cream had been in the fridge Adam has in the office. So no, she didn't get it from the shop.

Oh check me out not listening properly! This will be because, although they ignore me 99% of the day, barwick green seems to be some sort of bat signal to my dc to come and talk to me immediately and start turning taps on and off and banging things and winding the dog up and doing impressions of Brian saying Jenny darling or Jill saying special birthday tea.

Chris declined to use it on his hand; he ate it instead. Sensible fellow.

Excellent reminding ... I knew there was something I needed to add to this weekend's Ocado delivery.

🍦