Archers thread #143: In the Bleak Midwinter, Ambridge Folk Make Moan. Best Christmas ever? Probably not! 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, although we do mostly try to be civil about it. Most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you'd love to be in Jolene's choir , 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/4636789-the-archers-spoilers-thread-7-cant-wait-for-702pm-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.)

Well, we made it through Stir Up Sunday without bloodshed, but poor Ben is now in the grip of psychotic depression. Not going to be a happy Christmas at Brookfield, sadly. When will Jill swallow her pride and go and give him the abject apology he deserves? Would it be a good idea anyway for Ben to see his gran at the moment?

Will Jazzer say yes? I hope so. We could do with a Horrobin wedding to look forward to.

Will Emma and Ed end up in court if they go ahead with this idiotic scheme to nick the logs from Peggy's Folly?

Will the two choirs put on a joint concert at Christmas? I assume so, and also that the BBC will continue to fool nobody by using recordings of what is clearly a really good well-rehearsed established choir, not a scratch choir of half a dozen novices.

Over to you!

my veg box supplier (that i no longer use because they don't do small boxes to suit 2, unfortunately) used to let you choose not to have certain things. You could go into your account and change it up to a certain cut off date/time. So sweeds were always off the menu. We used to get extra parsnips to make up for it.
But I'm more bothered about taste than colour

Are you allowed …?

I use my veg box delivery in pretty much the same way as the Ocado delivery - I choose just what I want from the full list and skip weeks when I don’t need one.

I admit I was a bit apprehensive to begin with, thinking I’d be thrown out if I didn’t sign up forever and agree to their choice every week. But it isn’t like that at all. The prepared boxes didn’t always work for me, so, although it’s marginally (even) more expensive, I make up my own box for every order.

Nevertheless, if Bridge Farm’s prices are comparable with Riverford’s, they must have a fair few customers cogitating over how much longer they’ll be able to afford regular deliveries.

Veteran of various veg box schemes here. I’m afraid we cancelled our latest one after we couldn’t cope with the endless celeriacs (which are BIG), mooli radishes and butternut squash. We only had the delivery fortnightly, though you could skip whenever you wanted. You were allowed three exclusions and it was a tactical game trying to work out what they’d send one you’d excluded what you disliked most (beetroot) and added a couple more to stem the surfeits. In the end there didn’t seem much point having it.

Gosh, Susan was rude and annoying last night over Joy. I’m not even Joy's biggest cheerleader but still.

Sorry, wasn’t thinking. Round here, the boats are on canals. Forgot the rivers were navigable in the lowlands.

There used to be all sorts of good things at Morrisons. Wooden crates of local apples. A brief dalliance with going upmarket, with samphire, chanterelles, and summer truffles. I have no idea who they think they are competing with now.

Susan was ghastly to Joy.

I quite enjoyed the whole episode - everyone behaved in character 😅.

Completely unbelievable that he'd still be packing veg boxes whilst Ian flogs pizzas from a van.

Completely agree @BeaBachinasec

Will Tom and Tony (and Helen? Does she make farm decisions?) say no, causing Adam to lament his lack of management control? It’s a very odd situation, they must have very little money coming in.

I don't really see how the Am can be navigable, at least not by the time it gets up to Ambridge. There is a ford downstream of the village which Emma could walk through with George when he was a toddler; she used to take him between Brookfield and Keepers Cottage across the river and he didn't have to swim. That's inches deep rather than feet, and boats tend to need a bit deeper draught than that to float on.

The entire "Rex has a narrowboat on the Am" storyline is yellow pants.

Did we ever get to the bottom of Joy’s relationship with our Rochelle? (Sorry if this isn’t the right place to post - seems to just be ongoing discussion of current Ambridge affairs so I’m sorry if this should have been posted elsewhere!)

Absolutely the right place, @sukiwh, and welcome! I don't recall that we have. I like the suggestion somebody here made that Joy is in witness protection, and others have wondered if Rochelle has gone no contact with Joy, but it's all speculation. One day we'll find out, I hope.

Thanks for your reply! I’m glad I’m not the only one who still ponders the mysterious Rochelle.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g - I like the suggestion somebody here made that Joy is in witness protection

Typo for witless? I've just realised on reading recent posts that although I did listen to last night's episode, I had completely erased all memory of it. I think Adam's voice has that effect on me.

Oh far from it, some weirdos on here have even suggested that Rochelle is actually dead and Joy is living a complete fantasy life...

by the time it gets up to Ambridge That’s not the usual direction of flow of rivers

I thought they were estranged and that Joy was not happy about that and was trying to maintain contact from the early comments when Joy first moved in. More recently I think Joy's response to Ben's psychotic episode suggest that Rochelle may have similar mental health issues. Perhaps that's contributed to the breakdown in their relationship or perhaps Rochelle has been sectioned.

There have been numerous times Joy has suggested that they had a great relationship when Rochelle was young and then something fairly significant changed. Could that have been a breakdown or the development of schizophrenia (commonly diagnosed in late teens early 20s) or some other mental health condition that has massively impacted their relationship and lead to Rochelle withdrawing from her Mother?

I think she's dead.

i had a huge huge long break from The Archers. Where can i find out about the characters (the BBC site is useless)
I don't know who Rochelle is, and i am still confused about Joy and who she is and why she's there

It’s a very odd situation, they must have very little money coming in.

(Adam & Ian). Does Adam have income from Home Farm shares or something (I missed the collapse of that empire too and the downsizing from the house)? I often wonder how a chef and a farm hand (even a fantastic chef) afford their lifestyle. (am married to a chef, high end stuff only) and i can't imagine how it works

Didn't Rex's narrow boat come by road and get winched onto the Am, or is that a false memory?

To go up a river, you go against the flow of the water in it: up the Thames from Reading to Oxford, up the Tamar from Plymouth to Launceston, up the Tyne from South Shields to Hexham. The river itself does the same: the Thames goes up from Southend to Coates/Kemble (Thameshead).

It's not to do with the direction in which the water flows – which in the case of the Am is just as well, since it has been described on air as flowing towards both Borchester and Hollerton, and these places are on either side of Ambridge along its banks, one to the north-east and the other to the south-west. The only tidal river in the country with no connection to the sea, that's the Am.

That was never mentioned on air; which road would be used? It's presumably moored on the towpath (why is there a towpath? Surely there isn't any navigation on this one-mile stretch of river, no need to tow anything, ford in one direction and weir but no lock in the other) but the way to get to it from Ambridge is along a footpath past the church. And a narrowboat is big; it would have needed to be transported on a hefty lorry.

All right, how did Brefugee's post get tagged on there? I was replying to and quoting EBearhug, as far as I knew!

Adam was previously the farm manager at Home Farm not just a farm hand. He's now just doing casual work for Bridge Farm so will have had a significant pay cut. Ian may have done too going from a hotel head chef to running a pizza van, but as that will be self employed it could give him a good income if he is out often but normally there would be a delay as many events are booked far in advance.

Ian did get a redundancy payment.

Adam has shares in home farm as do Debbie and Ruari. Kate and Alice had their cottages in lieu of their shares when they restructured if I remember correctly.

I am still confused about Joy and who she is and why she's there - even the most dedicated listeners among us are confused about why Joy is in Ambridge. She relocated to Ambridge from Shieldfield in Newcastle for no apparent reason. All we really know about her is she has an imaginary daughter called Rochelle.

Does Jim have a paid job at Ye Little Shoppe, or is he a volunteer? In either case, can Susan really make him cover all of whatever-her-name-was's shifts? I know she's the manager, but that's not reasonable. If I were him (and a volunteer) I would be ceasing to volunteer until she saw sense.

Joy is surely here to replace Lynda eventually? Succession planning in action.