Archers thread #144: Window pains again! Light relief or dark times ahead for Ambridge in 2023? 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 volunteer in the shop with Susan, 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.)

New year, new thread. Many thanks to @LillianGish for the window pains pun! Hoping to hear a lot less from the Caseys this year and a good deal more about farming and how Ambridge is coping with Brexit, cost of living crisis, ageing population and all sorts of credible character-based storylines. Yes, I know, but one can only hope.

Over to you!

Kate's former cottage, now Kristiffur's and let to Jakub, is The Rookery.

I’ve got some questions!

a) Is “going up Lakey Hill” a euphemism for having sex? Surely Lakey Hill would have to be covered in trees and undergrowth so that Ambridge residents didn’t see you.
b) Is outdoor sex a thing this time of year? (Ed & Em woodpile quickie and now Kirsty and Erik sniggering about a visit there).
c) Does anyone else think Lakey is a bit of an unimaginative name for a hill. Is there a lake up there on the Ambridge map (hill would have to be massive if there was) or is it an old volcano crater?

@FerretInAFrock
a) not sure. I think it might have been a bracing walk.
b) I can think of better things to do in winter
c) there may have been a lake there at some point. David and Jill IIRC found a sinkhole a few years ago, which we don't seem to have heard of since

@FerretInAFrock on b) I did wonder at the time about Ed and Emma up to a bit of nooky in the woods on a (presumably) freezing cold November night. I know Emma had her coat but I hope they were both well wrapped up. They might have caught their death of cold!

I think "going up Lakey Hill" should be shelved along with "take me up the north mountain" from Frozen.

I'm equally intrigued about the prospect of cold weather al fresco "fun" because honestly if you tried it in my neck of the woods at the moment Erik would find himself going all Prince Harry.

I heard it again today and she definitely said spare bedroom.

Except that Kate referred to it as The Hobbit on 21st December, 2022.

Would anyone else have named their cottage The Hobbit? On 13th February last year Brian found it risible as a name for a house. (I do too: hobbits were people, not bits of architecture.) Synopsis says "Neil is not sure what Christopher will say about Brian's offer of a rent-free holiday cottage, either The Rookery or The Hobbit – and no, that name wasn't Brian's idea – until the divorce is sorted out."

We know that it has two bedrooms: one for Kate, one for Phoebe. There was a whole ghastly storyline about Kate decorating the other bedroom for Phoebe and Phoebe absolutely not wanting to live in the same house as Kate, as well as hating her taste in decoration.

I love your posts Asking. I sometimes post things I'm not sure of, trusting that you will correct me if I'm wrong, which I often am.

I'm about a fortnight (and 1/2 a thread behind), but thankyou for the new thread.

Can somebody remind me when Jakob is due back?

I am really glad you feel that way: I never intend to come over as wanting to do niggling-correction, but I am always afraid that is how it will look. Usually in the oh-no second just after pressing "post".

Testerday Kate said "Jakob won't be back until next Monday".

Yesterday. That was definitely an oh-no second.

Oh heavens - did Brad not actually attend the Maths course?

Or is it that Paige didn’t attend it and is simply a random from the Internet who he’s never met?

None if it sounds convincing …

Oh, I didn't get that at all! I'm hearing a sweet but rather socially awkward young man who's finally found somebody on his own wavelength to hang out with. It's a touch clunky, but I hope it's not going to be some improbable clunky tale of deception.

I'm not sure where the Paige thing is going, but I think she's definitely a genuine Maths nerd: a) Brad wouldn't fall for her otherwise, and b) there was that conversation between Jazzer and Brad where she was texting Maths jokes.

Yes, I recall the Maths jokes conversation - which is why I’m so puzzled today. Brad just sounded as if he was inventing everything.

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime , you correct nicely and you know that I care about getting it right.
I only mind if I'm pretty sure I'm right (e.g. somebody asks where is Ambridge and I say 'Borsetshire' and somebody pounces and says '*NO! ...'

Fortunately, us DTAs are mostly not like that.

Oxford might be a bit of a hike from Ambridge but just a short hop from Reading. Nice place for a first date for two academically-inclined teenagers.

I thought Brad just sounded not confident that Chelsea would approve of his plans. Nothing like some good maths jokes.

There are 10 types of people in the world...

Those that understand binary and those that don't.

That's how I heard it.

I find the Brad/Paige thing quite sweet and am pleased that he's found a nerdy girl friend (as opposed to girlfriend, at least at this stage). I hope Chelsea offers to give her a makeover and she just laughs.

Brad was lucky to get to Oxford and back to Ambridge by train on the same day - even on a non-strike day. I’m surprised he even attempted the journey- one more sign that the SWs live in a parallel universe…

Oxford to Birmingham is quite easy by train, and I should think there are plentiful connections to Hollerton Junction, as it's bound to be differently provisioned from every other branch line in the country.

@EBearhug , he'd have needed to get to and from Birmingham, which is in roughly the opposite direction.

I totally agree with ITakeCharge. Erik is horrible and so selfish and cant believe Kirsty would let him treat Jakob's home with such disrespect. Kirsty seems to have had a personality change over night. Hope she dos'nt get hurt she doesn't seem like a casual relationship person to me.