Archers thread #148: Unseasonably, it's panto time in Ambridge. He's behind you, Pat! BANG. 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 think George Grundy isn't a psychopath, 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.)

Will Rob return, or are they playing with us? Will Pat run amok with her shotgun and wipe out half the village? (We can but hope ...) Will Oliver come to his senses and turf the Grundy clan out of Grange Farm? So many questions, so much time.

Over to you!

I think Helen will start getting very tense about any parcel that arrives. She’ll get more and more manic until Pat takes her outside and —Shoots her with a shotgun— calms her down.

Fink
Who are their nearest neighbours, actually? Is there anyone in Keeper's Cottage now? I assume there's a silent, resident keeper who took over from Will?

Will never lived in Keeper's Cottage; different keeper, Tom Forrest lived there and it was named for him when it was built in 1961. Will lived in a Home Farm tied cottage, which was initially Sammy Whipple's cottage. It had been occupied by Greg Turner until he killed himself in May 2004; Will renamed it first Casa Nueva and later, after his marriage to Nic, Greenwood Cottage.

Mysteriously, in spite of being the property of Home Farm, Greenwood Cottage now seems to be in the gift of Borchester Land, who installed their new keeper in it after evicting Will and his children.

Keeper's Cottage is now being rented from Hazel Woolley by Dr Richard Locke, as far as we know; he has never been said to have left, anyway.

Yes, @Rosula - highly likely I think!

Thanks @AskingQuestionsAllTheTime I knew I could rely on you!

Dr Richard can join a whole host of people who may or may not still be alive and in Ambridge!

I have not listened regularly for a while - I have just listened to tonight’s episode - can someone please tell me what Tom and Natasha have done that is so terrible?

They used their twin babies as models, and chose to have them modelling, with a long-term contract, for an agro-chemical firm. They knew when they did it that this was a company Pat and Tony found disgusting, but went right ahead because Natasha liked the amount of money they were offered for doing it.

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime thank you! Seems a bit obvious it would cause trouble, I guess they thought no-one would find out, I heard the bit about’only be used overseas’.

I'm fairly sure that was the first the listeners heard of that particular bit of the contract.

I really enjoy a good family row! If Tony has any sense , he’ll leave the farm to Johnny. He’s right,he can’t trust Tom, remember how easily he was persuaded to buy cheap non-organic feed?

Since the topography of Ambridge appears endlessly flexible, I suppose it's possible that Tom has Bridge Farm listed as his 'deliver to this neighbour if I'm not in' address. I n my experience delivery guys like to avoid meeting people if at all possible, and “if i’m not in” parcel is left on doorstep, no matter what instructions are left

I was so with Tony tonight!

It depends on how the trust is constructed. If it’s a discretionary trust then the trustees would be able to decide. There would be a non-legally binding letter which goes with the trust and tells the trustees what was intended for the property (eg Freddie to inherit at 25 as long as he’s competent/capable). Of course, it could all be challenged through the courts.

@Ambridge good point about movement of the paintings.

When I moved internationally, I had a family heirloom painting that needed moving - not vastly valuable but well over £10k. The move manager watched it like a hawk, a whole world of paper and bubble wrap and packing materials were used, and it was ultimately crated up in wood to protect it. Not vastly expensive - in the order of £100, as part of a bigger move.

Not just….some paper and string.

That’s really interesting. I haven’t touched Trusts / Equity for a very long time but remember being amazed at how much scope for leeway and discretion there was between trusts.

So would it ultimately come down to what Nigel had written that he wanted?

He is right to be devastated. He was hoping to hand on the farm to the family knowing they shared his values and would continue the Bridge Farm Organics crusade. Now it looks as though Tom and Natasha could be bought off by anybody with a big chequebook. What happened to the lad who protested against GM crops? Just saying sorry means nothing. Tony doesn’t have to accept the apology. Tom really doesn’t get it! I hope the family throw him and Bridge Fresh out and take on Billy Button or the youngest Thwaite to pick and pack the veg now.

Oh - and they insisted that me or DP were there to supervise at all times, so we could see that if there was damage, it wasn’t them. Ditto at the other end: movers insistent that DP or I were there to watch the crate being opened.

I suppose they use this movers a lot and have moved them for years, but it does feel a little slap dash in comparison to my very small scale experience. And do wr know how much this painting is worth - hundreds of thousands? Tens of thousands?

I thought there was an entail and it wasn't just a trust set out in Nigel's will?

I’ve recently had to look at it again (first time since studying) and it is all rather like gobbledygook. But I understand that the trustees could have a lot of leeway in a discretionary trust. Nigel’s wishes would be considered but not necessarily enforceable.

That said, I’m not sure the Archers SW are necessarily considering the law!

I think it's entailed as well.

I thought that meant he had to come into his inheritance at 25, regardless. And could then squandor it as he pleased (not that he would).

I don't think that there can be; the law on entails was changed in 1925 so that they could no longer be set up, and there certainly doesn't seem to have been one when Nigel inherited or while he was running the estate.

When they said they used their usual movers though I took that to mean "our usual movers of valuable objects" rather than "dave and his son from the village"

I would have except that I really don't think they are likely to move valuable and fragile items out of the house all that often.

I thought they’d need to have things restored or cleaned sometimes?

In which case wouldn't the restorers/cleaners be responsible for packaging and moving them?

(Mostly doesn't apply to the sort of mediocre pictures second-rate non-aristocrat old families have on their walls when thirty years ago they were looking for something to sell in order to pay for dry-rot repairs and failing to find anything at all that was saleable.) (Well, apart from a painting someone discovered underneath a daub by Uncle Rupert, and no trustees got in the way of that being sold.)