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?

Lee had a magic chat with Tony and now doesn’t mind about his daughters moving away 🥴. Brian is overstaying his welcome next door. I’m finding it hard to believe he would choose to spend time with Kirsty but hey ho. Can’t remember anything else.

there was a frozen shepherd's pie

okay, slightly warming to Ardil, but wtaf are the Dopeys thinking? A shared bathroom and no TV? This isn't the 1970s. I remember Jill worked with the tourist board - I can't imagine any reputable umbrella organisation giving the Brookfield hovel any endorsement.

Sharing a family bathroom sounds grim.
I stayed in a B&B in the 1990s, and used the family bathroom.
Didn't think anything of it.

Stayed in digs and had to use a shared bathroom. OK apart from when someone decided to take a long bath at bedtime.

Have I missed something? What is Lillian's beef with Tony?

Or is she still annoyed about not being told about Jenny's heart?

By my reckoning the Dopeys are unlikely to make more than about £20-£30 quid/night with a small non/ensuite room. I remember jumping on a Uni bus in my little city where students were talking about the properties they were viewing for the next year. I'm guessing that there is no chance of decent broadband speed, either>

It all sounds very basic. Wedding guests certainly won’t want to be sharing a family bathroom so there’s no crossover with the barn.

They are offering the sort of accommodation a contractor working on the refurb of Grey Gables might want. A workman, away from home, would be looking for a cheap, no-frills base. They would be out of the house all day and may even eat their evening meals in the Bull. In an ideal world, they might only stay Mon-Thurs and then head back to their family home for the weekend.

It won’t make Brookfield a fortune but could pull in, say £140-150 per week (£35 x 4 = £140). Overheads will be low as they can use Josh’s eggs for the breakfasts. Are the Dopeys really that strapped? Seems an odd decision to let strangers into the family home for such a small amount of cash.

The B&B plan is a bit ill thought through. Is Ambridge over run with possible clients?

Lee is irritating now.

Yup, that’s it

Pardon the language but this Brookfield B&B plan is absolute bollocks.

Thanks. Her heated responses were so marked, I thought I'd missed an episode, or had a senior moment.

They may yet recast Robert, it's been done before.

It seems unlikely that a post mortem would take place. An awful lot of people die without an HCP being present, but post mortems are relatively uncommon. The most relevant criterion here would be whether Jennifer was seen in the 28 days before she died by a doctor who could issue a medical certificate of cause of death - given her condition, the chances are that she had.

I have been wondering why on earth, in the circumstances, Alice was talking about hiring cars for the occasion: nobody will need to travel more than half a mile to get to the church, and they all have cars anyway.

If this is a cremation, to be fair it may well be quite schlep from the church to the crematorium, and it's the norm for the family at least to follow in a car provided by the undertakers.

It sounds just like a B&B I once had the misfortune to stay in once for work purposes. I had a terrible cold and all I wanted was to retire to bed and watch mindless TV, but with no telly that couldn't happen; and somehow having to drag my suffering body across the landing to the shared bathroom made it even worse. I still shudder at the memory, and nothing on God's earth would induce me to stay there again or recommend it to anywhere else.

As for idiot David insinuating that providing a TV will take away their profits, he needs to reflect on the fact that there is no profit to be had from an empty room.

I was thinking that Brookfield had an ensuite bedroom that was Elizabeth's, but I guess the silent Jill now has that.

It's a nice way to give Lynda some activity.

Being farmers David & Ruth don't get away much so probably haven't realised how much standards have moved on in the last 30/40 years. I was interested in Lynda explaining the difference between 'a real working farm' and 'a customer's idea of a real working farm'.

Yes this was my experience too. I was involved in organising more than one funeral during lockdown, including DM. I also went to two weddings.

The weddings were very scaled down but still lovely and in both cases followed up with an big anniversary party a year later - which in some ways worked better.

The funerals were awful. Exactly as you describe. Miserable little affairs to which most friends couldn't attend and not even able to have a cup of tea together afterward let alone a proper remembrance. It was completely brutal, despite the real efforts of the funeral directors and celebrants in each case.

I was one of those annoying people who sent a very terse mail to my MP when the news started to spill out about hi jinks in government whilst families were not even able to comfort each other at a time of loss.

I think Lynda was spot on and I can't see her "overflow" guests being happy with the amateur offering and shared bathroom at Brookfield. They might be better pitching it as budget accommodation for walkers and bird watchers than proper "farm" holiday fare. That whole conversation with Lynda would have been better conducted by Ben as he is supposedly running the scheme.

That whole conversation was so typical David and just like the conversation he had with Elizabeth when they opened up the barn for weddings. As the conversation went on and Elizabeth talked about the expectations of guests around service, facilities etc it became increasingly clear that David had no clue and then he got all offended because she knew far more about the hospitality business than he did. David is a bit of a classic at assuming other peoples' jobs must be easy and that he could do them whilst his own is incredibly difficult and challenging.

Ha! I love Lynda's staying at the B and B. The whole thing is nonsense.
(Typing Lynda with a Y reminds of the name labelled Tabard storyline - good times!)

Kirsty and Roy are being bloody nasty. Zero compassion!

I don't think Roy should have been sounding off like that to Ardil and if i were his boss I'd have put a stop to it a lot earlier.

It reminded me a lot of some threads on here where people do something initially out of good intent, the recipient assumes its a bigger offer than it is and we get a ten threader of hand wringing because they can't possibly have an open conversation with the person who they now drive to work/shops etc every day.

Kirsty and Roy are being bloody nasty. Zero compassion!

I think I disagree, sort of. They are doing and saying the right things to Brian.
It's just that they aren't enjoying doing it and are then sounding off. Roy shouldn't sound off to his boss though.

I was one of those annoying people who sent a very terse mail to my MP when the news started to spill out about hi jinks in government whilst families were not even able to comfort each other at a time of loss

@C8H10N4O2 This. In spades.

Re. the B & B, David is actually a total numpty, as we all know, but I'm surprised Ruth doesn’t have more idea of how the real world operates.

I was one of those annoying people who sent a very terse mail to my MP when the news started to spill out about hi jinks in government whilst families were not even able to comfort each other at a time of loss

i don't think that's annoying at all (except to maybe your MP) Did you get any reply?

Yes I did get a reply. To be fair although my MP is Conservative and didn't get my vote he was one of those who spoke up against Johnson's cabinet of cronies, particularly on this subject.

I think the reply was probably a standard one he sent to a lot of people but he didn't hold back or make any excuses. That said he is from that dying group of MPs who became an MP later in life after a career outside and long term engagement in local government. I don't think he was worried about losing favour with Johnson.