Archers thread #146: They did fall apart. Can they put themselves together again? 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, and of course we are always delighted to welcome back former or occasional listeners/posters. 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 like to donate your time as a guide at Lower Loxley to save the Pargetters paying someone else a living wage, 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.)

Thanks to @Impostersyndrome for the thread title suggestion Buses and trains are sorely lacking, canals might be nearby, but all roads lead to Ambridge, picking up on transport discussions in the last thread. In the end I didn't use it, having in mind the character limit. @TottersBlankly contributed an early draft title Wreathes, wrath, writhing (Jennifer, Lilian, Ruairi). Both good starting points for the new thread, which I hope will last till Jennifer's funeral, surely not too far off now. So, over to you - whither the Aldridges? Also, does anyone care if Lee goes to the US? Is anyone even slightly interested in the Brookfield B&B venture?

Isn't Lily the elder sibling?

Yes, but the English landed gentry have much less enlightened views about primogeniture than the Sicilian American mafiosi. Even more sexist, though. Connie Corleone has no role in the family business.

Surely the only surprise is that he stayed their that long.

I think there has been a really touching and thoughtful exploration of grief over the last few weeks, quite something. It's hard going though. I'm definitely ready for some new happenings please.

Nothing too exciting mind, jolly but not 'light relief comedy capers'.

I don't ask for much

It'll be interesting to see how that turns out now that they've changed the succession rules for the Crown, so that it passes by primogeniture rather than male primogeniture. So whereas Princess Anne came after her two younger brothers, Charlotte comes before her younger brother (whose name escapes me).

It's odd about boys, though, isn't it? Even in my mother's very ordinary family, there was an obsession with boys. She was one of ten children. Number 3 was a boy, but it seems that one was not enough as they went on to have seven more children ... all girls! By that time my grandmother was 43 and presumably welcomed the menopause! And a generation on, a couple of my aunts continued and had 4 or 5 children until they had a boy, then stopped.

Louis.

But where is Brian planning to go?

I hope I live long enough to see Louis as an adult - he's a right little rascal. Shades of uncle Harry.

Hungary?

Brian could move into one of the holiday cottages, or if he still has any money from the sale of the farm he could buy a house on the new Home Farm development near Joy and Helen. He was unusually kind to Joy I thought.
I doubt he will move beyond the bypass while he has three children living in Ambridge and Ruairi still potentially coming home for holidays. Besides we want to hear from him as he embraces the life of a merry widower!

Agreed!

I applaud Brain leaning the blooming cottage and I'm sure Kirsty will too.

If this is a sign that he's joining Shula in retirement the North East I'll be devastated. I can't believe they'd break that news so harshly though for us and his grieving children. There's too much change. I miss Shula so much more than I ever thought I could and the knowledge that Robert won't be Lindying about is too sad. Now JD.

I thought they were twins?

why on earth would anyone need to spend 6 months in the LL gift shop at the expense of anything else?

the chance to speak to people who visit and find out which bits they found good and so on? to see what sells, why does a sell but b not? and to improve things. 6 months maybe too much, but 3 months at each of the "departments" at lower level jobs? absolutely

as for male primorgeniture. The rules have been changed only in respect of the crown. All the others, afaik pass down the male line. And the interesting thing is this: should the heir, or non-heir (say, Lily) have a sex-change to become male - and get all the papwerwork to say that for legal purposes they are male - they still don't inherit. but if Freddie changed sex to become female, and legally 2 girls which makes Lily the older and therefore heir? nope. Freddie still gets it.

If that has changed since i last came across it (Times i think but i'm not sure) pls correct me.

But how often does a LL gift shop reasonably need to be open mid week, off season, term time? Are they paying someone a full time wage to be there. What sells best, ans makes the most profit is easier seen on a spreadsheet anyway.

But I'm not disagreeing he should cut his teeth in all areas of the business, just that he doesn't need to devote half a year to what must be a tiny fraction of it. (And why wasn't it his Saturday job as a teen?) Surely after two weeks in there, in term time, in winter would be enough evidence that it's not financially viable to be open at those times unless it's run by volunteers.) Interesting to note that the stately homes that were built on slave labour, still require the free labour of volunteers to turn a profit.

@Octothorpe one still has to come out first!

One has to be born first.

Quite.
Bran will be the third housesharer at the Stables

Brian

Yes, I know one has to come out first….by a matter of maybe….seconds?

@Octothorpe, The average gap is 17 minutes.

It's longer than that. I was there when my twin grandsons were born and held the first one while the second was born.

The first one is always the older however short the time.

Snap.

I think you're right about the Gender Recognition Act and peerages. As I understand it, very little Parliamentary time was allowed for debate on the GRA because the Labour government had been advised that hardly anyone would be eligible for a GRC. They therefore concluded it was a trivial piece of legislation that they could railroad through to get themselves out of a jam with the European Court of Human Rights. A UK citizen wanted to marry a person of the same sex but wanted the marriage certificate to show their acquired gender. Once such a person had a GRC marriage would be possible (limited back then to heterosexual couples). The alternative was introducing gay marriage and in 2004 they didn't think the electorate would accept it. A few doughty MPs did try to raise concerns but got nowhere. Nevertheless, the Lords were able to insist that while concerns about single-sex services, safeguarding, women's sport etc were not worth worrying about, the law should specifically address the tiny niche area of what would happen to a title if one of the people in line to inherit it had a GRC.

[Sorry for derail. Hobby horse of mine.]

The thought of them arriving simultaneously put me in mind of when two of our cats try to go through cat flap simultaneously!