Archers thread #191: Mulligan: stew made from odds and ends; second chance after poor shot. Both fit the bill. 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 like George you like your steak very well done, 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 https://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.)

Mulligan mostly makes me think of John Finnemore's Souvenir Show. This is good, and tenuously connected to a recent TA storyline

Over to you!

School catchments
We were towards the edge of the parish. Most of the neighbours had DC about the name age (1 had older DCs, 1 the aforementioned much-younger ones).
The neighbours' DC all went to a different primary school.
Most of them I knew from Sunday School.
The DC at my primary school lived about 2 miles or more away.

The DC at Sunday school went to 3 different primary schools. One really crap one, the nearest one to us, which was probably OK, or the brilliant tiny one I went to.

I don't think my parents mixed with 1 family - different age group etc, and the boundary wasn't an immediate one (brook and woods either side), so it would be about 2 miles to get from yard to yard by road. Easier to pop to a nearer one.

The catchment for secondary school was huge and included catchment areas for other schools. I think there were 2 school buses, one to the school I went to and one to the nearest town.

Assuming Dismae is at least 26, and lived there growing up, you'd think they would have known something, especially with the NFU involvement.

I think only a few would have been NFU where I'm from.

Pretty much every farmer was in the NFU, used them for insurance etc. Not everyone did Young Farmers (which was, and possibly is, for 10-26yo, but in practice was from about age 14 , and particularly for those old enough to drive and go to pubs.)

Obviously Borsetshire could be different...

@EBearhug , we definitely were not NFU where we were. I know who the insurance was through.
YFC was roughly age 14-26. I didn't go much. That had a different catchment area.
From what I remember, it was quite boring then everyone went to the pub.
I must have gone for a while because one of the girls said her mother had said 'I'm quite surprised at Mrs Heart letting her daughter go out in such a short skirt'.
It was just a mini skirt, about 3 inches above the knee.

No no no to Pip and Esme. God Pip's entitlement has wound me up this week. Esme might be dragging everyone into her vortex right now, but it's what Pip has always done!

Re YFC Ambridge - it's always baffled me why there isn't one. It's absolutely de rigour in my area and county. We call it Young Fornicators because it is where so many relationships and marriages originate. And on a more serious note, young Farmers are brilliant at putting on events and community spirited activities.

Pip’s generation is the last that I remember (or think I remember) having a strong Young Farmers connection. I know after that I was always expecting it to be mentioned by the Ambridge young, but it never was.

Although - beyond Brookfield I’m not sure who it would have been relevant to. The Home Farm and Bridge Farm offspring were older - and the Lower Loxley pair were never allowed any social life whatsoever by the SWs. Johnny, maybe?

@faffadoodledo We had one in our village, but neighbouring villages didn't.
There were ones a few villages away.
You married within the village if you could.
It wasn't just for young farmers.

We had a youth club but that was in a different village. That was for secondary school age kids. i enjoyed that more but it was organised activities, and run by teachers.

I’m weeks behind, but caught yesterday’s episode.

Can anybody explain why it didn’t dawn on Freddie to enquire of Lower Loxley as to whether there might be a temporary job for George available (what with it being 1/2 term/Halloween/Fireworks…almost Christmas season). He should have inherited the place by now, after all?

What could George do at LL?

Johnny grew up in Leeds didn't he?

@CaptainMyCaptain , he turned up in Ambridge in his late teens IIRC.

I suppose he could have gone to Young Farmers but might not have fitted in.

Empty bins, events steward, help with gardening, clear tables, pot wash?

With his record? I don't think so.

I guess it’s realistic that people coming out of prison really struggle to find work and then end up reoffending

Young Farmers isn't just for young farmers - it's for rural youth generally. The ones I know (now in their mid to late twenties) have a wide range of occupations. There are even a smattering of young vets in their midst.
Extremely active bunch. In fact I'm going to a big bonfire night event run by YFC next week. It'll be excellent because they're such a practical bunch

Agreed, as usual!

Stella might have a view on whether Toby should assist with providing Rosie with a sibling. Not something I want to dwell on!

This is the only way I can make sense of things. For the sake of my own sanity (what there is of it) I am making the assumption that Esme did not go to either Loxley Barrett Primary School or Borchester Green Secondary or Borchester FE College.

Baffling, but appears to be true and not a BBC muddle in the credits. The new actor. Olivia Bernstone, has added The Archers to her Spotlight profile. I assume the change is permanent and not just covering an unavoidable absence from Charlotte Jordan.

Isn't Pip nearly 5 years older than Josh?

Yes, Pip was born Feb 93 and Josh was born Sept 97.
When Esme said to Josh that they were too young to know anything about organising funerals and he was "really young", I assumed( on no basis at all) that she would be about ten years older than him, so late 30s.

Maybe he looks young. Thinking back to being that age, I'd have thought someone about 2 or 3 years younger as really young.

I ❤Freddie.

Freddie is now pretty-much the only character in TA I would rescue if he fell into a river full of hungry alligators.

Beavers are so last week. Stock the Am with alligators 🐊

Here's why the Princess of Wales' personal stylist, responsible for the "Kate effect", is leaving
The commute was killing her?