💀 Archers thread #132: The Grim Reaper joined the cast; The Bard of Ambridge breathed his last. 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 will make an excellent vicar, or other unusual things.

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/4197199--The-Archers-spoilers-thread-6-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 many of you for title suggestions. @JanglyBeads said that this thread had to be a Bert tribute so needed a rhyming title. From an excellent field, I chose the suggestion from @BorsetshireBanality (who also has a cracking username).

Check out the last thread for the other suggestions and various poetic offerings inspired by Bert Fry's passing. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/4349822--Archers-thread-131-A-time-to-plant-a-time-to-reap-Discuss-The-Archers-here

So, who'll get the bungalow? Rex, Stella, Pip? If Rex has to move, will he doss down beside his pigs at Lower Loxley? Or will Rex be a resident at Her Majesty's pleasure, having bumped off Trevor for being the world's most boring man? Now Freddie's on the case, are Russ's days at LL numbered? Will we ever hear Jill again, or was Bert just the first of many older cast members to be dedded?

Over to you!

@WhoppingBigBackside

A couple of weeks ago I found a Constance Spry cookbook in a charity shop for 99p. I opened it on a recipe for Parkin. I might start baking

Oh my goodness I thought Parkin was a myth, I've never found them anywhere. But back on topic are Mike and Vicky coming back for a Christmas special?

How would she have got sight of the rotas if she were not a member of the staff?

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

How would she have got sight of the rotas if she were not a member of the staff?

Kirsty, I mean. Missed the new page existing.

The Hairy Bikers cooked them just the other day, although as they were in th Peak District they had a slightly different name and were a bit smaller than Staffs.

Nevertheless, their recipe refers to them as Staffordshire oatcakes:
www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/staffordshireoatcake_92371

I fancy having a go at these.

Poor Clarrie. I have endured similar when a relative tried to turn a significant birthday I planned to celebrate quietly with family into a party in a venue with a karaoke machine

Porridge oats with milk in this house, piping hot with cinnamon stirred in and fruit on top. The thought of mixing oats with water and salt(!) makes me feel quite unwell.

It’s really dire at the moment.

Also, Eddie saying it was a “once in a lifetime chance” or similar, for the Grundies to party at Grey Gables. Didn’t Will and Nic get married there? ( and how insensitive to Will if they did!)

Staffordshire oatcakes are dangerously easy to make at home. Freeze well too

I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed Oliver asking Kirsty exactly what business of hers it [the rota] was - a question not asked enough in the Archers imho

@TheSilveryPussycat

The Hairy Bikers cooked them just the other day, although as they were in th Peak District they had a slightly different name and were a bit smaller than Staffs.

Nevertheless, their recipe refers to them as Staffordshire oatcakes:
www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/staffordshireoatcake_92371

I fancy having a go at these.

Derbyshire oat cakes. Delicious.

Staffordshire oatcakes are thinner and involve no baking powder. When I was a child we called them Macclesfield oatcakes, and the bakeries still made them. They seem to be a very localised food, sold in the areas where Staffordshire, Cheshire and Derbyshire meet. Easy to make, but I always found that production couldn’t keep up with consumption in my (admittedly greedy)household. They make a delicious toasted cheese sandwich.

Grey Gables is just recovering from the effects of the pandemic and the explosion - it’s inconceivable that this party with half the village - including George and all his mates and gallons of homebrew (inc Toby’s gin) would be allowed to go ahead in the ballroom. And never mind Clarrie saying she wanted a quiet family party over a pub - surely her bigger objection should be that Eddie is expecting (and indeed has promised Oliver) that she will be clearing up this extravaganza immediately afterwards. In Clarrie’s shoes I wouldn’t be planning an anniversary celebration, I’d be asking for a divorce. Sorry this story is once again stretching credulity - Brookfield Barn as a last minute venue I could just about have swallowed, no paying guests to disturb and no immediate rush to clear up - Grey Gables ballroom just wouldn’t happen.

@Eastie77Returns

Poor Clarrie. I have endured similar when a relative tried to turn a significant birthday I planned to celebrate quietly with family into a party in a venue with a karaoke machine

Porridge oats with milk in this house, piping hot with cinnamon stirred in and fruit on top. The thought of mixing oats with water and salt(!) makes me feel quite unwell.

I'd have been homicidal. I can't understand why Clarrie isn't.

Re your second paragraph, does it help to think of it as gruel rather than porridge?

Suddenly Oliver is allowing a bring-your-own event with the Grundies using the Ballroom like the village hall. The GG management team would have surely swung into action immediately at the slightest hint of an event taking place in the Ballroom. So many questions would be asked re the use of tables/glasses/cutlery etc and the comings and goings of contractors such as an independent DJ; not to mention things like insurance etc. Sigh.

Grey Gables ballroom just wouldn’t happen
It wouldn't. Neither - despite sentimental bilge upthread about the Grundys' 'loving arms' - would Oliver for a nanosecond be staying en famille with 'the likes of them'. Or turning a blind eye to the blasted caravan on his land. Chiselling lowlife, the lot of them. YES, even Clarrie - the brainless doormat has enabled Eddie's shady and occasionally criminal behaviour throughout their marriage and is as bad as he is.
Odd that they are having Freddie to DJ, though, after the the huge Moral Fuss the Grundys made about not attending Hidden Treasures of LL (or whatever it was) because drugs. Presumably for fear Fred was going to leap out from behind the arras and corrupt Keeruh, Jorge, Mere and Poppay-pore-littul-mite.
Hypocritical scum.

@Essexmum321 Parkin was an absolute mainstay of my Yorkshire childhood, especially at this time of year. Oats, ginger and black treacle.....yum. Eaten whilst waving a sparkler

@Essexmum321, parkin is definitely a thing. I'm not from Scotland, the North Midlands or Yorkshire but I like oatcakes and parkin.

You also get pikelets in the north midlands, and yes you can make your own oatcakes. They are delicious.

Pikelets are sort of related to the absolutely revolting welsh cakes. The ones you get in shops are nothing like proper welsh cakes, which are vile. Proper pikelets are much much nicer than supermarket ones

With the oatcakes and pikelets, if you freeze them, put greaseproof paper between them.

All this talk of cakes ...

Eddie is awful and not funny.

I heart Freddie

I would have said spikelets were related to crumpets rather than Welsh cakes. In fact my parents always referred to crumpets as pikelets (I thought it was a Northern thing).

Spikelets? Is that even a thing - my spellcheck clearly thinks so.

My parents also always referred to gingerbread as parkin - even if oatmeal was not involved.

You from Yokshire @LillianGish?

Supermarket pikelets and crumpets are similar. Not sure about spikelets but they sound interesting.

I think the connection between pikelets and welsh cakes is in the name- pic

Well spotted @WhoppingBigBackside (your name always makes me LOL) - though it's some years since I lived there.

@HaveringWavering

It’s really dire at the moment.

Also, Eddie saying it was a “once in a lifetime chance” or similar, for the Grundies to party at Grey Gables. Didn’t Will and Nic get married there? ( and how insensitive to Will if they did!)

They did. It featured one of the very free comic interludes which are actually amusing- Caroline dropping the cake lovingly baked by Clarrie.

Proper Welsh cakes are lovely. One of my neighbours makes them.

Pikelets are crumpets but thinner. www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-pikelets-x6?utm_medium=cpc&catalogId=10241&productId=903890&utm_campaign=391199228&storeId=10151&gclid=1fae9d92cf9a1bb890f3fc1fefd63415&langId=44&utm_source=bing&krypto=XaPkFld2Er9%2Fu5qjEQyeTCzFtUmkY5jUOpk4Kd7Iu8xWp8LWZN37p3RyLXXT3m3EhDigscIE2CSgo6qL%2BMqc3ptRa9CFtQehBQMyYKm%2BdlZlLCdRG%2BcRGmSF46%2BCnY8LCH5I9tU0czcwJsEyuqaocG7ftCbkfVuKU0MerE8ytUuxrGomT7sOrysDExoawHF0HNdMn1Ka7R7ATB8JgIgGi8xg5981H2LyHSwFFZbU63sFpHpFn0qfs%2FkkrWrC7I2VUF5vWazGaMG91xrf0oYvK5H%2BC4cdEaHvaGYy9kvr0wtz8pID1H3KQYx%2B7%2FlcoSYGX5PHmHcv7Ap%2FFjT0y7TayEdV2b%2F5wyf6rqA4zKZbxbyStKZSisb3j5UVK8NEMjU60bI2HuUFLA52IGypjJ%2BSGqRRKH3xeNNjgf73Tfa53KqFoYy8K7Ok3G3m67MdAsdB8ttgRw5FbE6%2FwTPhtSMInUtFqp7i0kTnwXBs0C91WbjVREoRhbr%2FWEJAAg5jiB%2FU3YOORHG4E43VRnOJawFg2NypYfTfzp02yt3eE6C%2FLPOgNYoGD%2FusbkNsi14jBmY%2FyWZqO3rvSbSzHEMcNTdc8w%3D%3D&ddkey=https%3Agb%2Fgroceries%2Fsainsburys-pikelets-x6

@LillianGish, do you say teacake for a bap or a roll?

Due to this thread I have easten some oafcakes. And very tasty they were. Parkin would have been better but I had a few packets of oafcakes in the cupboard. They are sort of necessities in my opinion, and easy to carry with me for moments of extreme hunger.