Archers thread #202: How are you finding your visits to Ambridge? Fill in your feedback forms 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 working as a hotel receptionist is a perfectly reasonable career choice for a graduate from a family with a stately home, 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-12-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.)

Over to you!

Trust KD to remember the Green Burial Site. I doubt many of the other writers are aware of its existence.

I seem to remember Kirsty was one of the people who was friendly with Carol when she first returned to Ambridge. May be wrong, but it’s such a shame the writers didn’t develop any of her initial connections over the years. She’d been a resident for quite long enough to have formed real friendships and to have people mourn her loss. (The one with a professional interest and her landlord don’t really count.)

I’m looking forward to the pagan funeral. Sounds interesting!

I hope Kirsty’s pregnancy is going ok. Anyone know when she is due?

Didn’t someone brilliantly observe it would be the Autumn equinox for Amber and the Winter solstice for Kirsty? And then … I forget who for the Spring!

Me. Amber autumn equinox, Kairsty winter solstice and 'r Lil wi' da' woolyback's baby in June.
I'm not ruling out a baby Tucson though. Freddie and Fallon?

👏

Obviously, I want Chelsea of the Horrobins to be Mrs Frederick Hugo Pargetter and for them, but not Elizabeth, Lily or Harrison, to live happily ever after.

I also predict that Amber will have PND but Kirsty will maybe have a slightly premature baby but otherwise be fine.
cf JennyDarling and Susan

The Miller baby will be a boy. This will make Tom wistful about what might have been.
Jakob will be the best uncle ever but there was no competition.

Every1ElseInKnowsley
Jakob will be the best uncle ever but there was no competition.

I suspect that Nigel was an absolutely brilliant uncle from a child's point of view, because he did slightly unusual things with them that were fun; not so great from their parents' pov because they came home covered from head to toe in mud and such-like. Nigel was childlike, unlike Kenton who has always been childish, and children see and appreciate the difference.

I think the storyline of his absence and the effect it's had on his children has been quite subtle and powerful. He had such a generous and open spirit.

For a long time Nigel was one of my favourite Archers characters, along with Mrs Antrobus. I think perhaps they were both notable for not necessarily doing what might have been the obvious or the expected, and for being singularly without malice or ill-intent in a village full of back-biting and grudge-holding and stupidness. Nigel was often silly, but he wasn't stupid: a sort of wise fool. And Mrs A was benign.

Dog park at Home Farm? Brian has sorted out hard standing for the caravans….

I don’t understand how a dog park on someone else’s land is going to make enough money for Robert and Lynda to stay in Ambridge Hall. How much would someone pay to use such a facility and how many people in the Ambridge environs would be prepared to pay for it?

I don’t get it either. It would need a significant capital investment (digital booking system, fencing, parking, things to make the dog park worth paying to use) and it would require on-site staffing.

They don’t require any staffing. There is usually a key code or similar. I do know ones which net £50k annually but they own the land themselves and they are located at the edge of towns / cities.

Who'd pay £5 a session to use the dog park when there are plenty of other places in Ambridge? What is the population of Ambridge? How many pet dogs are there?

How Much Does a Secure Dog Field Cost UK 2026? | PawsField

I live in a rural village with lots of fields but would still have been pleased to have an enclosed field with no other dogs or pheasants around so I could practise recall with some stubborn terriers we have owned over the years.

You would not be able to ensure sole use, I imagine.

I holiday at a place that does exactly this, in Victoria. The only one.

The ones i know of are bookable for one party/person exclusively (with the option of bringing a friend/s). You wouldn’t expect anyone else to be there with a dog during your slot. Otherwise there’s no point.

But these aren’t the same thing as dog parks, which I’ve seen in Australia and the US, but which are less prevalent in a lot of the UK. So far as I understand it, dog parks are free and do not need booking and are non-exclusive.

Seems like very little interest in here around the arrival of The Grundlet.

@Darker it’s moved to the new thread

————> thataway

Oh! 😳

There's an enclosed dog area in a park we frequent. It's free and anyone can use it. I also know of the type you can pay for exclusive use.

I didn't enjoy the episode but the presence of Brad will result in repercussions.
George will be a model father until the novelty wears off.

And we're off to the new thread: Page 4 | Archers thread #203: It's Affair Cop! Discuss The Archers here. | Mumsnet
See you there!