Archers thread #155: Cold Comfort Farms! The rural sagas continue. Discuss The Archers here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

FILL THE OLD THREAD UP FIRST! https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/4902507-archers-thread-154-cider-with-fat-rosie-meadow-rise-to-candleford-or-the-darling-horrobins-of-september-get-your-rural-saga-fix-discuss-the-archers-here?page=10

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 hear more scenes in the abattoir, 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.)

Lots of lively discussion about Brad's university aspirations and the Open Day on the last thread. Do you want him to end up at Felpersham or do you want him to spread his wings and go further afield? Where will Mia go?

Will this thread see the end of Rob, or do we have many weeks more before his long overdue demise?

What's going on at Grey Gables? Are they running into financial trouble? Will we hear from Roy, who I had forgotten was working there until he was mentioned the other day? Who are the mysterious 'Owners'? Will the locum GP turn out to be Adil's sister, as we have been surmising since she first spoke? Why's she been conjured up?

Talking of the GP, I'm hoping against hope we're not in for bad news about Jim's mole.

Praying that we're going to get a long and much-needed break from hearing P*p. Not praying that we hear Rob being christened. Who would be his sponsor, as someone commented on the last thread? Harrison? Surely that would be a conflict of interest. Can't see who else would do it locally.

I wonder how Ben is getting on now he's back on his nursing degree? Will we ever hear anything about Lily's course, or how Freddie's getting on at the abattoir?

So many questions! Over to you for some answers and boundless speculation.

I don’t know - it’s a big birthday and he very much loves his wife

The tandem might have been second hand. I hired one on holiday once and had a bit of fun, but if I'd foolishly purchased one it would definitely have gone back on the market pretty soon. Neil and Susan's experience probably illustrates how long most people would keep a tandem for!

They are good for blind people, and in my case dragging along a tween who wouldn't have managed alone. But if you have two adults who could each ride their own bike, I can't see any circumstance where a tandem would be preferable.

No need for Susan to make chilli at the moment...
Sorry to bring the tone down
(It's no secret that I have a bit of a thing for Neil...)

(@Bruisername have PM'd you)

Am I the only one who thinks it was Rob who did the church Graffiti?
It was "Rob is a ..." ...then something unmentionable on R4.
Not many in Abridge would know to say "Rob is a rapist".
Some might say "Rob is a liar" or even "Rob is a c*nt".
Rob would sneak up and graffiti on the door "Rob is a ... Innocent party... Misunderstood victim... pillar of the community ...
I dunno. Perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree. I just can't think who else would grafitti on the church? I don't think George would in his current mellow guinea pig focussed state?

My money's on Usha being the grafitti artist.
Or Pat.

It could be the Button sisters - mentioned as having an interest in the case (wanting to go along to the baptism to ogle) and with a history of low-level antisocial behaviour.

Against that theory is the fact that they were unlikely to know about the refugee meeting. But the people who did know about the meeting are the least likely to graffiti.

This thread could win an award for the most pointless arguments

Also I’m imagining George phoning up Mere prior to the possible act.

‘Hi Gee-orge, what do you want?’

’Oh well that’s nice isn’t it, can’t I phone my cousin, just for no reason?’

’Actually no, Gee-orge, you do always want something.’

’Oh alright then. How do you spell ‘c*nt?’

’Gee-orge! (Brad heard in background saying ‘what does he want?’) ‘Are you signing a letter?’

’Ha Ha. Very funny. No it's important like, I need to get it right. I don’t want to look.. stupid, do I?’

’You’ve obviously never heard of ‘Laydee Chatterrlee’s Luvver’ Mere giggles.

’Who? Nope, can’t say I’ve met her. Come on Mere, hurry up!’

’Oh alright. You spell it like it sounds C. U. N…’

’Thanks, gotta go’ George hangs up.

Whoops *stepsister. Too late to edit!

Perfect @OverArmour

@SequentialAnalyst hopefully not about a duel…

I have to say after alan/Neil read the graffiti and was too disgusted to say it out loud I’d have loved it if the other one had said “Oh dear, well I suppose Rob is a bit of a horse bothering flood creating shitbag abusive megacunt isn’t he.” <cue dum de dums>

Ridiculously I find myself still disappointed that we don’t have a Horrobin-Archer baby residing at Brookfield or on The Green.

I know it would have been an awful cliche - feckless underclass teenage mother - but it would have been disruptive and progressive and forward-projecting in ways that Ben’s miraculous mental health journey has never been.

@LillianGish - your Guinea Pig / Rickyard analogy is neat beyond neat! If that really was in the SWs’ minds, they’re certainly having fun with it.

@TottersBlanklyIntoBimboCore I think there's something g in the water in Ambridge which aids mental health recovery. Lizzy, like Ben seemed to be quickly sorted

And we haven't heard any more follow up on Helen have we? After her (very realistic) relapse

Perhaps Henwee was the culprit.....

I suspect Helen’s new attitude is partly coming from the ED which is her coping mechanism. So still a long reaching SL to go on that

I'm quite surprised how quickly the village has turned against alan tbh and it strikes me as very unbelievable. I’m constantly shocked at how judgemental Christians can be given the belief system. Worried now that it won’t be Rob inside the wicker man!!

on the graffiti - it just have been done during the time alan and Neil were inside. Narrows the time down for Harrison. Deep sigh that we might have to listen to harrison doing some policing.

I can’t think of any word that would cause Neil to be so horrified. That reaction to me would be more akin to a secret being spilled but I don’t think there’s anything new to be discovered

also, do the villagers know he’s dying? If not that could explain their anger a bit more I guess.

That reaction to me would be more akin to a secret being spilled but I don’t think there’s anything new to be discovered in which case I think Rob is a rapist is a very good guess - not universally known (also pleasingly alliterative).

He is a man to spend £1000 on his wife

DM claimed that after a couple of weeks holiday on a tandem she’d lost half a stone and Dad had gained a quarter of a stone.

Hmm. Why’s it “half a” but “a quarter of a”?

"Half of a' is harder to say than 'half a'.
'Quarter of a' is easier to say than 'quarter a'.
I think that's all it is. The missing 'of' is implied.

@OverArmour siad
This thread could win an award for the most pointless arguments

There is no such thing as a pointless argument on the TA thread

The rest of your post is excellent. May I ask, have you ever worked as an intern on TA?

You could say half a stone and a quarter stone, but in its way that's even more illogical.

I wondered whether a quarter is seen as a fraction in a way a half isn't. We say "a fifth of a" but it would be easier to say "fifth a".

Ah, but in that example "quarter" is used as an adjective. "A quarter stone weight" rather than "a quarter of a stone of flour".

Helen has had much much longer to process her time with Rob, and it's her own first-hand experiences and memories she has been processing. No other person in Ambridge, or anywhere else, has thought so long and so hard about what actually happened during Helen's involvement with Rob. More than that, recently Rob drew her in again, but this time she worked it out, though it took a bit of time. I do hope the ED goes away.

As a survivor of an emotionally abusive marriage, which I escaped just over a decade ago thanks to the Power of MN, I have done a lot of thinking about incidents of abuse by Ex that nobody else (except Ex) even knows about. And Helen has had a lot of time to think about it, starting when she was banged up awaiting trial.

I know quite a few people who think my Ex is great, and that I'm a bit of a loony. They don't know the truth of the matter, and I'm certainly not going to explain it to them I too have done a huge amount of thinking, and I'm still remembering the odd thing which proves yet again that Ex is a see-you-next-Tuesday.

I think the 'of' in 'half of a' is just invoiced.