Archers thread #192: Village of the Dammed. Discuss the beavers here. Throw in the odd word about the Archers if you must.

[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 love to have Kate present as you give birth, 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.)

I'm more excited about the arrival of the beavers than anything else going on in Ambridge at the moment. I hope there will be a webcam.

Bets on how much of next week is set in the castle or on the way there/back? I'm bracing myself for at least 50%.

I'm expecting the "and I'll do anything for you" blank cheque from Pat to Clarrie will be cashed shortly when they have to call in favours on behalf of George

I think Christmas Eve is a strange day for a tractor run when people will be busy prepping for the next day.
Ours is on the 28th, so nicely between Christmas and New year. It has over 100 tractors and takes 2+ hours to pass by.

It makes more sense for a radio drama, though. Nice lead up to the big day.

True. And it makes a change from Christmas productions.
tbh I'm amazed the local young farmers haven't been doing one for years.

All the tractor runs around our area take place mid-December.

@BeaLola , I'm just wondering how long it is before Bridge Farm aka Pat offer George Adam's old job ? Days if not hours.

@EBearhug , I've done plucking but I think it was geese not turkeys. It was a long time ago.

Huh great idea for radio, an event which is all about the appearance of the tractors. 15 minutes of ooh and aahs will be riveting.

At least it is better than actors pretending to act badly.

Maybe they'll save up some filmed bit for the flaming podcast

Maybe George will try to mow Brad down with the fergie.

On the contrary - I think it’s perfect for radio. On the radio your tractor can be anything you want it to be - it will be far more spectacular in my imagination than anything in real life. It reminds of that great line from Educating Rita: “In response to the question ‘Suggest how you might resolve some of the staging difficulties inherent in a production of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt’ - you have written ‘Do it on the radio’.”

I've already imagined the Hannastronautomobile and the Tony's Octopus's Edible Garden Tractor.

I can’t think why Clarrie doesn’t/hasn’t been a childminder. She would be brilliant at it and it’s a lot less hard on the body than most jobs she’s done. With the village growing it might be a nice earner for her - even just after school pickups and wraparound care.

But she enjoyed her work in the dairy - I don’t get the impression it was unusually laborious? She wouldn’t have had the benefit of working with a close friend if she’d been a childminder. And I doubt that Oliver would have given permission for the Grange Farm house to be used in that way.

we need the out of control tractor ploughing through onlookers excitement to be on Christmas Eve though...

i plucked pheasants with my mum once. We made an (unreconstructed, culturally inappropriate but it was the early 70s) chieftain headdress for my little brother with a lot of the good feathers.

And my dad introduced me to the song 🙂

Yes pheasant feathers and strips of corrugated cardboard around the head featured heavily in my 1970s/'80s childhood. The tail feathers were particularly useful for that.

We made headdresses too. I think we said we were squawks.

She would have to register with Ofsted and do all the assessment and target setting expected of nurseries

In my imagination the Berrow tractor will be called “Swinetrek” and feature the cast of “Pigs in Spaaaace”.

Sadly, I think Hannah is too young to remember The Muppet Show.

A neighbour of ours used to be a childminder. Hard work, especially dealing with some of the parents. Long hours. I believe every resident of the house would have to have a DBS check and the house and gardens/grounds would need to be inspected. I can't see a Grundy residence passing. In my mind there would be heaps of old scrap everywhere you look.

I know what, Clarrieluv - we'll get the littl'uns to help with the turkey plucking. They'll have a whale of a time! No worries about arthritis and they can keep the feathers. Can't say fairer than that, can we!

A bit off topic here, but is "Clarrie" a shortened form of her birth name and if so does anyone know what it is? I was thinking Clarabel (then realised that is a coach in "Thomas the Tank Engine").

@MorningCoffeePlease , Clarrie Grundy - The Archers Wiki not sure if it is reliable.

She had an aunt named Claris, so might have been named for her?

(edited to add: OK, or possibly Clarice.)

Thank you ThreshAcre and AskingQuestionsAllTheTime.

I never thought of Clarice - that name I associate with a totally different fictional personality!