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Life in Ambridge
THIS POST IS CLOSED "longer off topic comments" - Episode 14 Life Outside Ambridge Have a seat and let's chat.
Replying to Gary’s post on the previous blog.
ReplyDeleteI did say several times that any child abuse is wrong and incomprehensible to me. I assure you that I do feel sorry for anyone who has gone through abuse or suffered other forms of trauma.
But I still feel very sorry for the teachers wife, and observed that there is no indication that he continued with his hideous behaviour after his mid-twenties, ie he made the effort to change his behaviour.
"Your Honour, the defendant's behaviour of late has been impeccable. He hasn't raped a child for ages." Hmm...
DeleteWe will agree to disagree KP - I don't feel the need to prolong this much further.
In reply to Maryellen and Mrs P on the previous blog, the last we heard of Tim and Ed, was Ed saying he wanted out, and Tim making threats to Ed, and saying that Ed "wouldn't want any harm to come to your lovely wife, would you".
ReplyDeleteI had wondered where it would go from there, and was concerned that we would hear of the consequences for Ed and his family. Now Ed has dodgy chemicals? in the barn, I suppose the scene is set for some sort of disaster.
There were one or two scenes last week where Ed was a bit distracted and dealing with calls or messages. I suppose that could have been to do with Tim,but we weren't told.
DeleteThanks for filling me in, Zoetrope - I suspect the impending disaster will result in no Beechwood home for Ed and Emma (explaining the big build up regarding furniture for it, to be followed by all the dreams that have kept Emma going during the dreary hour in the chicken factory, being dashed). That in turn means no move from Grange Farm, no move from No. 1 The Green,and Joe can pass away on the right side of his doorstep.
DeleteI would hope that his present good character would be taken into account when sentencing but he still has to pay for his earlier behaviour even after time has passed. However, can see that you could feel sorry for him and especially his family. He had obviously turned away from these awful past mistakes.
ReplyDeleteWas replying to KPNuts!
DeleteReplying to Lanjan on the previous blog: I think Shula said that Harold came together with a nice woman who used to be Jim‘s neighbour. So Harold must have learned about the party through her. He probably still lives in the same area where Jim used to live.
DeleteApologies, it should have been a new comment, not a reply to Ev.
DeleteThank you Gary for starting this new blog, (assuming ‘tis you!) with a very suitable map of Borsetshire.
ReplyDeleteI have several maps of the area, naming all the farms, many of which we never hear now.
The most interesting one was designed to look just like a proper Ordnance
Survey Landranger map and has proved very useful over the years.
Your getting into your stride with this new task Gary.
ReplyDeleteWell done.......and
THANK YOU
Thank you!
DeleteAmazing map, Gary, so convincing, & all those names ! Hard to believe it isn't real....
DeleteWhat do you mean it isn't real?!!!
Delete😄 about as real as your online name, Old Fogey?!
DeleteThanks Gary
ReplyDeleteI love maps.
I had one of Ambridge behind my desk in my classroom when I was a teacher.
Grand job Gary. I, too, love a map.
ReplyDelete👍
I’m definitely a map addict and I have a copy of this one, which is an insert on a detailed map of the village. Just looking for Grundy’s barn...
ReplyDeleteyes, looks like Emma’s bubble is going to burst very soon. As someone said a while back, will she acknowledge that she was told by Ed that this work for Tim could land him in trouble, that he didn’t want to get involved but that she said “people do it “. It doesn’t exonerate Ed from going ahead with it but it makes her complicit.
All Ed told Emma was that it was a VAT dodge, not that it involved the illegal movement of hazardous substances, which stupid Ed has even more stupidly housed on Oliver’s land. So Emma is not complicit in criminal activity which Ed certainly is. I don’t know which will hurt her most - the loss of her dream home and future for her family, or Ed’s moral weakness and total lack of common sense in bringing it about.
DeleteAh, I thought he mentioned pesticides to Emma. Agree that both aspects you highlight will hurt Emma hugely.
DeletePart of Ed's weakness is his inability to curb the obsessions of Emma. He only started doing the dodgy work because the "Material Girl" wanted to go shopping. That's basically the situation in a nutshell! She wants things and isn't really that bothered how they get the money. "Only VAT fraud? Everybody does it!" No they don't Emma. People like YOU do it.
Delete"Emma-terial Girl" if you wish.
DeleteThank you folks, I'm here all week...🎤🃏
Agree with you Gary about ed's weakness in dealing with Emma. She's always wanting something that 'people like us can't afford'. That chip on her shoulder is so huge it's a wonder she can stand up.
DeleteForgot to add, I like the map.
DeleteYes, it's great to see where is what in relation to other.
DeleteIt's sad though, this lack of communication between Ed and Emma, there was a shade of doubt though when she mentioned the guinea pig, I hope she confronts Ed.
Sadly, Ed is no novice where law-breaking is concerned.
ReplyDeleteI’m a bit confused about how Emma keeps saying they have to save every penny for the deposit on the house.
ReplyDeleteThey have been to see the one is that will be theirs, so haven’t they already had to pay some sort of deposit to secure the site?
Also how many thousands deposit have they had to raise via the chicken factory etc?
DeleteA nephew of mine pondered on buying my sister and B - I - l house as they are about to move (yet again!) the mortgage itself would be fine but the £30,000 deposit 😱 no go! They have downsized in recent years as they like to travel so we are only talking a small 2 bed property ( Devon) Having said that they are now moving back into a 3 bed...IOW 🤗 shame we can’t travel now.
I have this horrible fear that we are about to be subjected to yet another storyline in which a member of the Grundy clan moan about how unlucky the family is - "if only this, if only that, if only we had those advantages, life is so unfair etc etc etc". Yeah, yeah - if only you were less criminally minded and made better choices you mean...
ReplyDelete(I also have a sneaking suspicion that I may be in a bad mood! Going to take myself off to the IMAX to see Apollo 11 this afternoon and hopefully that will make me a bit less whingy.) 🚀😋
Enjoy the film GG.
DeleteI like Emma-terial girl.
DeleteWe should adopt this.
The Grundys have been doomed by the scriptwriters to be the only have nots in the affluent village of Ambridge. I think they have very right to moan about their lot. I certainly would!
DeleteCorrection to above: I forgot Jennifer Aldridge had joined the little band of have nots in a village of haves, now she no longer has her big house with its luxury kitchen. She moans a lot too.
DeleteSeasider - re Grundys Barn.
ReplyDeleteDo you not remember that I worked out where the field that the Grundys have when we were with the BBC ?
It caused my post to be taken down because I used the name of the field, which I had taken from an Archers book published by the BBC.
Time moves on, and now the ' name' is considered non PC by the BBC.
It resulted in much discussion about PC re non PC.
But I can repeat it here without offending any authority, and I hope none of our contributors.
The field in question and where the barn is, is Piky's Piece.
I don't have the book to hand now so cannot be precise, but it is adjacent to the river and near the bridge that leads ( I think) to Brookfield.
Mrs P, I remember it well now you have jogged my memory. I wasn’t at all familiar with the term so I wouldn’t have known it was offensive. Sorry for inadvertently resurrecting that subject with my throwaway remark.
DeleteIt doesn’t appear on my map of 1998.
DeleteStruggle to grasp what can have been offensive. Perhaps an ingenious & tiresome PC warping of language.....then again, I could just be dim.
GG 12h24 - 🤣🤣 💐
ReplyDeleteAccurate.
Have always loved a map : geography teacher's daughter.
Emma should never have listened to Natasha, who told her about buying on credit.
ReplyDeleteIf they lose the Beechwood House (which I hope they don't), she surely is tied into orders + credit payments, which she might not be able to get out of.
To add, what concerns me is that they are moving in, in less than 2 months time, and still do not have their deposit in place. Surely by now, contracts would have been signed, and the deposit paid, or are things simpler with a new-build?
DeleteYoungest son and future dil are moving into a new build house which they have been told will be finished in August. They have had to prove they have the deposit months ago before even the mortgage application was sent and have completed all the forms for the mortgage application two weeks ago. Last Saturday they were told by Nationwide that they could have a mortgage.They are visiting and being allowed inside the house on Wednesday for the first time.
DeleteIt has been a long wait! (About six years!)
They will move in with a limited amount of furniture. (My first wardrobe in married life was four tea chests (2 piled high each end) with a broom handle stretching between them!)
I cannot see that Ed and Emma can be assured that they have the house and are moving soon if they have done nothing about applying for a mortgage yet. Nationwide was the third company my son had applied to.
I thought the Ed/Emma mortgage has been approved, even though they seem that they still don't have the full deposit, which doesn't make sense.
DeleteSpicy, so pleased for your son + his fiancee, to achieve their first home. You must be so pleased.
I still wonder if Emma + Ed's affordable home at Beechwood, is totally owned, or one of those, part owned/part rented.
Although I wish Ed + Emma well, I do wonder how they will be able to pay all the utility bills, council tax, intertent/wi-fi/satellite TV, mobile 'phones.etc.
I thought they had paid the deposit. I understood they were worried about meeting the mortgage repayments. Pretty hairy yesterday with nasty Tim.
DeleteI do feel sorry for Ed. Sure, he smelt a rat, which is now doing a lot more than twitching its whiskers, but he succumbed to temptation & Emma's urging. She managed to blind herself to the danger because of her desperation to have a home. One was vacillating & weak, the other was greedy, so isn't that just human fallibility ? I don't feel inclined to be too judgmental ; we wouldn't have stories if everyone was perfect, & life itself wasn't full of pratfalls, in fact, would we have recognizable.life at all ?
I have a strong feeling that it won’t matter if E & E save enough for the deposit in time, or not.
DeleteI don’t think they are going anywhere and will be lumbered with bunk beds, coffee tables, expensive curtains, all bought ‘on tick’ and nowhere to put them.
I just sincerely hope they don’t end up in the current equivalent of Meadow Rise, like the older Grundys did. 😢
All in No.1 The Green (sadly minus Joe). Will, as landlord, + his very helpful plan for Clarrie + Eddie, will backfire as now he will be lumbered with a lot of the house furniture no longer needed.
DeleteI have a horrible thought about Ed storing Tim's dubious + illegal pesticides at Grange Farm.
ReplyDeleteCould they leak, causing problems with Peppa + his sale or make Keira ill.
Either would make Ed think what he is involved in and talk to someone + tell all, so justice is done, with consequences for Ed.
Not a nice thought, but why else are the chemicals there?
The chemicals are there so that Ed will be found in possession of them and the others will scarper. I hope we are both wrong. Another dark tale, although I agree with Carolyn that we are seeing how understandable human foibles can lead to dramas like this. All very Shakespearean ‘Twas ever thus.
DeleteDid Pheobe go up to Oxford? You would think that someone might mention it. Oh, hang on...😒
ReplyDeleteIs Jazzer seriously proposing to duff up a wheelchair-bound man in his nineties
ReplyDeleteI know! It's as if Tracey had decided to set about Peggy. It's madness. I really hope it doesn't actually happen.
ReplyDeleteIt's just Jazzer talk - his way of expressing anger & disgust at the child abuser, not a plan of action. Between them, with Alistair as a moderating influence, they're not making a bad fist at supporting the Prof. who is so badly shaken up. It won't be easy to persuade him, as Jazzer said, it would be best if Alistair could get Jim to contact one of the organizations that can help.
DeleteCleaning out cupboards was interesting, metaphorically. Poor man is doing his best, but he's not ready for much more direct confrontation yet. It's just good he's got two people who know, care & are with him.
Alistair told Jazzer 'that's for later', which sounded as if he was considering legal action but I think he was just trying to calm him down.
DeleteThen it just shows what a primitive animal Jazzer is, if his first response is to hit someone rather than than think how he can help the situation.I am getting fed up with his constant presence these days and feel like LanJan does about Shula - I might have to stop listening. I have a horrible feeling from last night’s exchange with Adam that he is destined to replace Joe Grundy as the village clown.
DeleteIn The Sunday Times there was a report about the Broadwater Farm Estate where children during their school holidays are confined to their high rise flats because there is nowhere for them to play.
ReplyDeleteI realise that the script writers couldn’t use that as one of the storylines but I have always felt so sorry for children who have not managed to have a “normal” childhood like young Carers.
I wish the editor had thought of bringing that sort of thing to the notice of the listeners when Mia was trying so valiantly to be a second mother to Poppy when she herself was heartbroken at losing her mother.
It is not too late scriptwriters.
Let Mia return to live with Poppy and Will ( you chose the reason for her doing so)
Let us hear how she tries to cope and how with the help of a Charity like Barnardo’s Young Carers,she is able to enjoy her life without worrying.
Let us have a storyline which makes us feel cheerful and which is uplifting.
I'd say Mia is much better off where she is now, Lanjan, with Dad, stepmother, & brother. It's not right that a 13yr. old should take responsibility for a small child, if other options are available, & they were in this case
DeleteAt the same time, I hope she stays in touch with the Ambridge family. They were good to her in many ways, & she had a relationship with them. Perhaps she & Jake will show up for Joe's funeral.
It would have been better had the scriptwriters thought about it at the time Mia was having difficulty when living with Will in my opinion.
DeleteThat is another storyline hanging in the air.
How is he managing to cope?
You are quite right ,Carolyn
A thirteen year old should not be left to cope with a younger child but sadly there are very many such young girls having to do just that.
That is why I think it would have been a far better topic to have latched onto rather than the one that has been chosen.
Alastair apparently did not have a close relationship with his father.
I would suggest that when Alastair was growing up many men were not overtly affectionate to their children.
It does not mean that they did not love them.
In a lot of cases possibly even the majority ,women still did the housework .
,shopping and looking after the children and the men went to work-as did a lot of the women too.
Things have changed for the better in that respect.
I wouldn’t say my own father was very affectionate towards me.
I never thought anything about it at the time
I dare say now it would be put down to the fact that he was only 16 years of age when he decided to fight in the First World War and was injured twice .
Although it must have been dreadful ,when I used to ask him about it he told me how he used to love the bully beef they were given.
He never spoke about the hardships.
I do hope that Jim does not go down the route of counselling.
I think that Alastair and Jazzer are all he needs.but I doubt the scriptwriters will agree .
So Phoebe is taking an ''ntelligent' interest in Adam's soil project ! Very on trend with climate change & youth involvement....
ReplyDeleteUnderstandable with all that's going on, but Alistair was a tad abrupt with Shula. It's down to her earlier intervention that Jim decided to tell him.
Alastair.
ReplyDeletePlease don’t involve Shula .
I think I will have to stop listening if she gets involved.
👼ça suffit.
DeleteMy fear, if Shula does get to know the truth about Jim, is that she might involve Alan. Her determination to ‘do good’ could prompt her to think a cosy little chat with Alan would do Jim good, whereas it would be the last thing Jim wanted.
DeleteHaving been told by his abuser that ‘God would punish him’ if he told anyone what was going on, must have soured Jim’s view of religion for life.
Surely even Shula would realize that Jim is anti-religion. She's had that made clear to her and should know that Alan would not be the right person to offer help.
DeleteAgreed ! Shula would surely not tell Alan, nor will Alistair tell Shula, I think, having made the promise to Jim, & having been quite clear with her yesterday. It is, of course, a slight possibility that Jim might tell her something himself in time, given his outburst with the keyboard, but that doesn't seem very likely.
DeleteHowever, there certainly is help out there, pyschological, emotional & legal, but given his pride & independence, Jim may never accept it, let alone seek it out.
Going into the confessional with Shula on the other side, would be like going through the gates of hell.
ReplyDeleteIs she stalking Alistair?
She seems to want/need to speak to Alistair and Jim on a daily basis.
DeleteIf you're gonna leave the man, then you gotta actually leave the man alone! How annoying it must be to have the wife that didn't want you in your life (and didn't particularly get on with your dad) continually hound both of you every waking moment?
If she's that lonely she could always volunteer at a charity and meet new people whilst doing that "good" that she's seemingly obsessed with doing.
✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️Stasia,Gary.
DeleteI really cannot be doing with St Shula as you may have gathered.
Don’t let her volunteer to be a Counsellor though.
I concur entirely.
DeleteAs GG says how annoying it must be for Alistair to be hassled in this constant manner. I know it annoys me. 🤬
Emma and Ed and house deposit /mortgage situation odd timings I agree. Also (yearly) the Village Fete 😡 how come it only gets discussed and then implemented in a handful of weeks, surely many months of meetings / organising is required!
ReplyDeleteAs I said after Jim's confession, I fear that Shula will find out and get involved and it will move her along the path into the church, I hope I'm wrong on all counts.
ReplyDeleteSo do I Basia
ReplyDeleteOh please no... 🙏😕
DeleteShula is patronising, she was like that with Darren when she took him in and Alistair pointed out that she was driving Dan away. After she told Alistair that she no longer loved him she publicly humiliated him about his gambling (did he deserve it?). She was the one who suggested a surprise party for Jim, inviting people he hadn't been in touch with for years. As she said, she felt responsible and went on with her 'whining pleas'. This is an ongoing storyline possibly with no resolution.
DeleteNatasha + Tom are off to Cuba for the honeymoon in about 4 weeks time.
ReplyDeleteHow can they leave now, with a new enterprise just starting? I am not sure if there is enough produce to put into the boxes, as per the App.
Who will manage the App, produce + deliveries, whilst they are away.
Shula is kind and caring and that’s good enough for me.
ReplyDeleteIs any body else finding Tom’s pronunciation increasingly annoying, or it is just me?
ReplyDeleteLast night he had quite a lot of dialogue with Natasha and that sibilant ‘ts’ at the end of so many words was driving me mad!
A couple of weeks ago I was listening to the daily serialisation of a book about fishing on Radio 4Extra and noticed the same ‘ts’ and the end of many words.
I bet that’s the same actor that plays Tom, I thought, so listened to hear who the reader had been.
It turned out to be William Troughton’s brother, Sam! Must be a family thing I suppose.
I find some of the regional accents unconvincing but no one’s pronouciation annoys me.
DeleteI have never found New Tom convincing
ReplyDeleteHe is one of the ones I visualise standing there with a script in his hand.
I don’t like Natasha but I think the actress is good.
‘Listen to me Tom Archer, I will speak to you very slowly, and in words of one syllable, emphasising every word so that my message goes into your thick skull. I will have that pre-nup. Comprendi Amigo.’
ReplyDeleteArcherphile. I also find the ‘Ts’ and ‘Ds’ irritating.
Goodness Emma was at her Hilda Ogden best.
✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️,Stasia
DeleteRe Emma .
I think Peggy was very restrained last night.
Emma had no right to tell Peggy what to do with her money.
That chip is getting heavier on he’s shoulder .
Soon Emma will be starting to look like the picture on that dreadful sign showing an old bent woman with a walking stick that we see on streets so that old ladies like me know where to cross the road.
Peggy felt awkward about having to ask Emma to come back and clean the house properly. She said she could see that Emma had something on her mind and asked her what it was and Emma told her what many of us have been saying. Peggy didn't like what she heard, I know Emma was borderline rude, but she did ask.
DeleteEmma was asked a direct question and gave a straightforward and truthful answer. I don’t think that was rude. Peggy was borderline prying - and reverted to mistress/servant mode when she got an answer she didn’t like.
DeleteThat's exactly how I heard it. Don't ask questions if you can't stomach the answer ! I hated her response to Emma at the end.
DeleteTom's heart told him to marry Natasha, so if his head is telling him to sign a post-nup then he might just as well, after he's had a nap. Since this issue has been brought up by his parents, it won't go away and he should listen to them before it's too late, it's only a document, like his marriage certificate.
ReplyDeleteWell put, Basia ! I still feel Natasha has something up her sleeve, perhaps emerging when the actual terms of the post nup are discussed ? Meantime, Tom needs to sort out his head - what IS this 'deep down' unease he enigmatically mentioned ? He doesn't know himself.
DeleteIf Emma was annoyed that Peggy had asked her to return to do the cleaning that Kate should have been doing and when Peggy asked her what was on her mind and she’d have said that she hadn’t liked being “sacked “ without a by your leave or redundancy payment and she had then told Peggy what was on her mind I think that would have been fine.
ReplyDeleteHowever ,what annoyed Emma more was that Peggy was giving HER money to one of her family .
I maintain that however daft the idea ,Peggy can do what she likes with her money
I imagine both issues irked Emma, but the family project was foremost in her mind just having heard Ben burble on about Brookfield's plans.
DeleteAs for the Kate avocado mess on the carpet ! Emma must have been repeating the mantra ' double pay, double pay' to herself in order to stay in the house at all....
Ironic that Emma thinks she and Ed along with others should have the chance to compete for Peggy’s money when far from being environmentally aware, Ed is stowing suspect substances but of course Emma does not know that. Agree it is nothing to do with Emma what Peggy does with her money and Peggy would be justified in taking umbrage!!
DeleteI don’t think Peggy was prying.
ReplyDeleteShe may have felt guilty about the sacking and was trying to be kind in offering to make a cup of tea for grumpy Emma..
How did people find out about Peggy’s money idea?
DeleteI don’t imagine Emma was meant to sit back while Peggy made the tea. If Peggy makes it she gets full value in cleaning time from Emma. She may be a daft old woman, but not that silly!
DeleteI think that Peggy, rather than asking Emma what was wrong, ( she knew damn well what was wrong) should have told Em that she had made a mistake in sacking her and believing Kate could do an adequate job, and asked Emma, kindly, if she would resume her job.
DeleteBut that scenario would not have satisfied the SW brief, would it ?
✓✓ all of it, especially last paragraph, Mrs P.
DeleteI was slightly warming to Peggy during the last year, but the summary dismissal of Emma a few weeks back, imagining Kate would be anything but a disaster on the domestic front, & ruining a worthy concept by turning it into a family competition just to assert her matriarchal standing, has turned me right off.
Quite MrsP - you got it to a tee (or tea as there was).
Delete......and what about Ben the Confident failing his Driving Test?
ReplyDeleteWas there anybody who actually thought he was going to pass it ?
Was there anybody who actually cared whether he did or not?
Yes, failure was signalled loudly, wasn't it ! But I did hope he'd pass because I always do hope people pass whatever-it-might-be...
DeleteHopefully ( again !) his contemptuous - & contemptible - siblings don't find out his lie, so they can take the piss yet again. Bet they will, though, sigh.
I cared more about Ben getting through his driving test than I did about Jazzer getting through his job interview. I think the results should have been reversed!
DeleteI just wish Jazzer well.
DeleteHe deserves a chance for a good life, for once. He has a bond with Jim, supporting him and as I perceive, a genuine affection.
If only Hannah was still interested in him.
After that build up what would have surprised me would have been him passing the test.
ReplyDeletere. Peggy’s Ambridge Environmental Fund - I don’t think you are allowed to set up a charitable trust fund of which the only recipients can be family. I’m pretty sure a charitable fund has to be available to all comers, otherwise it could be regarded as a tax dodge, to get out of family members paying inheritance tax.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, as it is named the Ambridge Fund it should be open to anyone living in the environs of Ambridge, or for the benefit of Ambridge as a whole.
I wonder if the SWs have done proper research on this - or if it has been deliberately badly worded to create confusion and disappointment further down the line....and stir up resentment from the likes if Emma?
✔✔✔
DeleteSimilar thoughts to mine.
Archerphile - you must have been posting at about the same time as me. I was interupted by a 'phone chat, which delayed by posting by quite a while.
DeleteI gave my thoughts about Peggy's Plan a while back, and this is why, I agree with Emma.
ReplyDeleteI stand by my initial idea, that the trust should be open to any-one in Ambridge putting in an eco friendly project, to help the whole community. There would also be several financial packages available, for approved + viable plans, after an in-depth review, by her panel of advisors. These projects would definitely have to make a difference for the future.
The size of the finance package awarded, would be based purely on the projects + not by who submitted them and where they are based.
Playing Devil’s advocate.
DeleteIt is Peggy’s money to do with as she wishes.
She could have divided the half a million pounds amongst her family.
She decided to make it a competition and make her family work for that money.
She decided to ignore Lilian which was not right but include the Aldridges and Adam. She
It would have been better in my opinion had she said that she would advance money to every member of the family who came up with a good idea.
In that way she could have had a Woolley Wood or Woolley Orchard or a Woolley Soil Improver and everyone would have been happy with the possible exception of Emma
I do not see why she should have opened the idea up to everyone in the village.
The village would benefit anyway.
Another point is that one of them could come up with an idea (like my comfrey water fertiliser for example ) which would not need the £500,000 so would that person be allowed to keep the extra money?
Why not the Parish Council, turning The Green, into a wild flower meadow. This would attract butterflies, birds, bees, and would be a colourful part of Ambridge, at the same time.
DeleteLanjan.
DeleteOn this occaision our ideas are very different, but I do appreciate your thoughts, This is what makes this site so interesting - to read + digest - so many ideas.
If they made the village Green a wildflower meadow where would they play their cricket matches?
DeleteAt Ambridge Cricket Cricket Club ground which, according to my maps is at the far end of the village, behind the village hall. As far as I know they have never played cricket on the village green which is opposite The Bull.
DeleteOther village activities take place on the village green eg.the fireworks. Wild flower meadows need a lot of management if they are not to look messy during large parts of the year or get swamped by undesirables like ragwort.
DeleteAs it is known, Tony sold a plot of Bridge Farm land to Justin, for £1mill. which is now the Beechwood housing estate.
ReplyDeleteI wonder, how enviromentally friendly these new homes are?
How come Jim was to be on duty at the shop all of a sudden? Why didn't Alistair know?
ReplyDeleteBecause Jim accepted without thinking and soon forgot, and Alistair is not his keeper.
Except that he is now and is well aware that Jim's afraid of stepping outside the house, so he was pleased that Jim did. Except that it was all so carefully scripted, so as to alert Alan and Shula to Jim's fragile state of mind. To be continued.
Pretty well summed up, Basia ! Alistair was brusque with Shula, understandable in the circumstances, but can see why she called round. Interesting that it was Allan, of all people who rescued Jim. Fine, but unfortunate that Susan was involved, because it'll be round the village in no time that 'there's summat up with the Prof'.
DeleteIt’s Clarrie that says summat.
DeleteI don’t understand why Jim has started to behave as if he is in the early stages of dementia. Has it been exacerbated by his recent shock?
Noted that in her cosy conversation with Phoebe, Peggy gave no credit to Emma's work in the house & let the girl imagine her mum was a reformed character...
ReplyDeleteStill, it did seem that Peggy's confidence had been shaken a bit by Emma's words.
Shula was trying, in both senses of that phrase. She wanted to help, having been instrumental in Jim eventually disclosing his story to Alistair. It's understandable that she wants to continue to support Jim and Alistair ( and get to know whats's behind it all).
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Alistair had no intention of telling her.
Now Alan knows that Jim is not 'right' would he be able to offer support in a pastoral way? (but not pushing God or religion) Might Jim accept that?
Might Jim accept an act of simple kindness ?
DeleteWell he did tonight, and from the vicar !
I am probably on my own here but I still believe that Alastair and Jazzer are the best ones to help Jim.
ReplyDeleteThey know what has happened so he doesn’t need to mention it again.
I believe he should be left alone now.
He will ask for help from his two housemates should he need it.
I wonder if Elizabeth is still going for counselling?
Susan probably thinks Jim is starting with some form of dementia.
I am sorry that Alan has become involved because I think he might seek Shula out with the words
“I am worried about Jim!”
Can’t you just hear her saying something like
“Oh Alan ,so am I.
Alastair doesn’t want me involved but I can’t sit round doing nothing”
Why won’t Shula leave things to Alastair?
I wouldn’t put it past her to contact Daniel who will get compassionate leave and she can feel she will be able to help him to get over his loss at losing Dorothyat the same time.
I thought that in the early conversation between Alan and Shula, Shula showed that she would not (then) be giving away what little she knew about his state of mind. I hope that continues
DeleteYes, she did, handled to sensibly in fact, & also made clear that she'd given up her idea about ordination. Maybe Shula really is learning something about herself & other people !
DeleteI don't think Alistair can handle Jim on his own. He isn't available all the time, & Jazzer neans well, but.....I think he needs proper advice on how to help his father, not necessarily getting Jim to seek outside help as yet.
With you there Lanjan.
ReplyDeleteWell Shula did seem to understand when she said she wouldn't bother Alistair again. She wants to help but just comes over as interfering now. Whilst Peggy's idea does seem a bit strange to me, I do think she is entitled to deal with her money as she wishes. If Emma suddenly came into a lot of money wouldn't she expect that she could deal with it as she wished, including leaving it to her children, rather than having to share it with the village. Emma's attitude about that is down to her massive chip.
ReplyDeleteIs Shula trying to rival Susan - pushing pushing..,,
ReplyDeleteI think Shula is struggling with her self imposed role change. If she were still married to Alastair they might involve her more. Or not. Hopefully she will do as she agreed and leave them in peace until/if they ask for her help.
Delete🤞 Seasider
Delete“I’ll go away. I won’t bother you again”. Promises, promises Shula. Will you be able to keep to your words.
ReplyDelete🤔
DeleteShula turning up at least alerted Alistair that Jim was at a loss in the shop.
ReplyDeleteThey have kept Susan out of it, for now.
I agree that Alistair should seek advice how to help Jim.
I'm also concerned about Jim not being himself but it must the shock and now he's shared it he relies heavily on his two helpers. Perhaps it's not such a bad thing if the word goes round that he's succumbed to dementia, so people won't probe further.
But is it just the shock, Basia, or shock-accelerated dementia? The latter would not surprise me?
ReplyDeleteYes Maryellen, it could be both, people do become aggressive with dementia but it's shocking to see Jim's faculties suddenly so diminished.
DeleteSorry to go on about this, and I do agree that Peggy is entitled to do as she wishes with her money.
ReplyDeleteBut the point of my post yesterday, was that I doubt whether it can be legally set up as a charity.
Charities have special tax exemptions (e.g. private schools) but I don’t think the prize money could be limited to family members and still be called a charity.
I think it would have to be open to anyone who could come up with an idea for the committee to consider when it decides who has come up with the best scheme to use the £500,000.
There has been some discussion about this point on other forums and the consensus seems to be that there is something wrong with the way Peggy’s charity has been set up to include only family members as contestants.
I’m not clever enough to know the legalities (is anyone here a legal-eagle?) but I think sooner or later Peggy is going to have to allow other folk in the village to participate.
I noticed the comment yesterday about the trustee recommended by her financial advisor.
ReplyDeleteThat rang bells for me.
Why was this individual mentioned, if not significant for some future discussion or as a pointer to ' something going wrong ' ?
What I still don't understand, is how Peggy has K500, when Hazel inherited the majority of Jacks estate. I know he left a with a very comfortable income + The Lodge, but I am still bemused....
ReplyDeleteCan any-one put me right?
Yes, I agree. Cannot see where all this money comes from.
DeleteAgree Peggy has already dished out cheques to at least Tom and Helen in the last few years.Maybe she has a money tree in her garden 🤔
DeleteAh ,Archerphile,I wonder if the idea is that all the £500;000 has to be used for the winning project and that whichever family member thought it up will not personally actually benefit.
ReplyDeleteSo if the tree idea won then all that money would have to be spent on the trees and their maintenance.
I somehow got the idea that the amount of money given to the winner was half a million pounds and I then assumed that any money over would be claimed by the winner as a sort of prize.
If all the money is to be spent on the project then I don’t know what Emma is whining about
That’s how I saw it LJ - money for a project not for the winning family to put any part of it into their own pocket.
DeleteWell, I’m amazed. Phoebe returns from Oxford with what Will probably be a first and sounds like she has just taken her GCE’s. I don’t think any student 👩🎓 would simply return home without having made career inquiries and discussed with advisors where her interests might fit with a degree in PPE. Her degree will have equipped her with certain intellectual skills, but that didn’t come across in her conversation with Peggy.
ReplyDeleteShe's already advised Adam to 'jazz up' his soil academy pitch, so that's enough.
DeletePeggy + Pheobe was, to me, just a lovely get together between two generations of the same family.
DeleteI recon Susan could have given better advice, and she didn’t go to Oxford. She knows all about management and presentation. 🐲
DeleteHaving worked in the HE sector, it's not that uncommon for students to concentrate on getting the degree and then afterwards start thinking about future careers. In my generation graduates looked forward to long-term employment that would last for much of their working lives. Nowadays they expect to work for several different employers. What I don't want to see is another intelligent well educated young woman stuck in the same village as their parents (eg Alice and Pip) - very unrealistic in my experience! I think I've asked before why hardly anyone from Ambridge goes to London (Brenda perhaps?)
DeleteIt can happen that a young person brought up in a rural area finds city life difficult. My own daughter, following her degree, had a well paid job in London but didn't last there very long because she hated the fast pressurised pace of life and felt claustrophobic in a city. She now has a much lower paid job here as a manager of a holiday park, but can spend her free time swimming and surfing, and has the time to study for a second degree with the open university. ( astronomy and planetary science because we are hoping to have a spaceport near Newquay!)
DeleteI quite like Phoebe but I can’t help thinking that she is a young girl who was brought up in Ambridge by a stepmother with a Brummie accent and a father whose accent I cannot remember because we haven’t heard it for a while but who certainly did not speak”posh”
ReplyDeleteDid she do a Joan Bakewell and change her accent in her case on the train from Oxford to Birmingham rather than from Derby to London?
Not sure what the artful Natasha is up to but I wondered if somehow she has managed to transfer her debts to Credit Cards which are in joint names.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand she might be working on Tom in order to get her money on the £500000.
This could be another TA red herring. Natasha could well be a genuine person, who loves Tom, and is happy with her marriage, and all that goes with it.
DeleteI am still prepared, to give her the benefit of the doubt, at the moment.
Hard to believe there is not “something” behind Natasha’s see- saw behaviour because soaps these days have to have continued drama and character back stories. It’s what we want apparently 😳
DeleteSo the success of Natasha’s OFS operation at Bridge Farm has already rubbed off on Helen’s cheese-making business in terms of increased orders. Difficult to fault her there.
ReplyDeleteI keep encountering big promotions of artisan gin in supermarkets and pubs everywhere these days - which makes me wonder how T❤️O❤️B❤️Y is faring, in addition to being a wonderful dad who Rosie adores.
Yes, there is an awful lot of gin around everywhere these days. Our local news featured yet another artisan gin maker the other day.
ReplyDeleteSeems that Toby jumped on the bandwagon at exactly the right time but must now be facing a great deal of competition.
Do we think that signet ring really belonged to Natasha's grandfather.
ReplyDeleteWould her Mum really risk sending a family heirloom in the post?
Is she up to something ?
I still can’t make up my mind whether she is completely trustworthy or not!
Neither can I !
DeleteYes, we do - same as we believe Jim’s story although we only have his word for what happened and he could be suffering from false memory syndrome and/or the onset of dementia.
DeleteHow did Natasha get hold of the ring?
DeleteDidn’t she say that her mother found it in a drawer or did I imagine that?
Did her mother post it to her .?
“I am having a clear out ,Natasha and found this old ring that I think was your grandad’s.
Your da doesn’t want it”
Why would Tom want an old ring that belonged to someone he didn’t know?
Well of course he doesn’t want it but he ,stupid fellow believes that if Natasha really loved her grandad and she was prepared to give him the signet ring it must mean she really
loves him too.
Oh I have already made up my mind,Archerphile.
I wouldn’t trust her as far as I could throw her.
However I quite like this storyline because I am not concerned about the way she (in my opinion) is using Tom.
I believe the ring is genuine but was alarmed that it arrived by post, she could have said her mother gave it to her when she was there last.
DeleteI believe Natasha has been set up this way so we don't trust her, she ran back home and is in debt, let's see what the pitch to Peggy is.
Registered post/special delivery?
DeleteAll the same it could have got lost.
DeleteOf course, the problem with Natasha (at least to me) is that she was depicted as being odd (behaving unusually) from the very beginning.
ReplyDeleteThat business of buying very expensive Christmas presents for people she hardly knew.
Not liking Pat’s casserole and saying so, the first time she was invited to dinner.
Giving her boyfriend’s mother anti-wrinkle cream!
All the suggestions that Bridge Farm should be doing this that and the other soon after meeting Tony &Pat, seen as interfering in the family business.
The indifference to having large credit card bills, which shocked Tom
The insistance on renting that expensive house (fortunately rebutted by Tom)
The rushed wedding
And strangest of all, the disappearance after the wedding leaving Tom distraught and everyone in the dark, followed by the return without a really satisfactory explanation.
All the above ( and probably other things I’ve forgotten) seem to have been written purposely to engender distrust in the listener, if not in Tom.
Tony and Pat all seem to have been won over by her actions since her return, but I’m still not sure that she is 100% genuine or trustworthy.
I hope to be proved wrong
Doesn’t take much to bribe Tom, a bottle of screw top Chateau average plonk, and an old signet ring.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think Peggy’s charity thing will ever see ‘fruition’ it all sounds a bit dodgy!
If Natasha’s plan (Tom being the mouthpiece) goes a head and she wins will we now have Applebridge 🍏🍏as the new Village name.
Maybe she has a grand plan for how she and Trev will spend the half million.
Archerphile - it’s a case or reading the subtext, as it was with T❤️O❤️B❤️Y, bless his and Rosie’s little organic cotton socks!
DeleteLike it,Stasia.
ReplyDeleteApplebridge has a certain ring to it.
I bet Trev was offered the ring and turned it down.
I’m very impressed by the way Natasha has got over her disappointment re the smart house and adapted to living in the flat over the shop with all its drawbacks. We never hear a moan from her, unlike the non-stop moaning from Jennifer Aldridge, and she threw a house-warming party which has been the best party Ambridge has seen since those organised by Lily at Lower Loxley.
ReplyDeleteGo Natasha!
That’s go as In proceed - not exit!
DeleteOh I don’t want her to exit just yet.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of mileage in this story .
I am loving it because I don’t care what happens.
Maryellen,I am going to give a donation to the Bridgewater Farm project if I am proved to be wrong .
Natasha’s is trouble ,mark my words!
LanJan - can I stipulate the amount of your donation?
DeleteWhat would you like it to be?
DeleteHow about matching Peggy???
DeleteHmmm,Maryellen.
DeleteI think I might have to get back to you on that one.
I look forward to Lilian's birthday party at the Flood Bar from which the family are to be excluded.
ReplyDeleteWhere does that leave Kenton, behind the bar?
Maybe he'll get Gin Genius Toby to do an extra shift.....
DeleteThat Natasha is quite a one ! The signet ring is a powerful symbol : 'You are my family now, as I am yours'. She's doing all the right things. AND Tom came in first, having weighed it up, agreeing to the post nup. That is the rub - I eagerly await the terms of this document !
ReplyDeleteNatasha is biding her time, she returned to Ambridge with a plan, and the “Village Idiots” will fall into some sort of legal trap with the post nup. How could anyone find wimpy Tom attractive with his constant clinging and wailing and need to be reassured she won’t leave.
ReplyDeleteArcherphile, I agree there is something decidedly fishy about Natasha’s agreeing to a post nup.
I suspect that she may have been using credit cards with joint names recently and transferred her old debts which were on cards in her name only onto them.
ReplyDeleteIn that way I would assume she would only be responsible for half the debts..
I have my late fathers signet ring. He had to stop wearing it, due to bad rheumatoid arthritis. After he died, I found it at the back of his sock drawer. I had forgotten about it.
ReplyDeleteI still don't know who it should be passed to. Whatever I decide, to whom I pass it onto, and when - I would do so in person. It is too personal to send.
Natasha, surely, could have met up with her parents, at a half-way stop, to hand it over personally.
If the ring is genuine, then this shows that Natasha is genuine....but is it?
I am still sitting on the fence re Natasha.
Miriam. Don’t sit on the fence for too long it might become 😖 painful.
DeleteI’d rather have the Natasha S/L and all the intrigue and speculation between us bloggers than the angst of depression, dementia, historical abuse etc.
I also want retribution for Tom’s behaviour towards Kirsty, who is now confined to a small room, including extremely large TV, with the other Welsh person Philip. 🥎🥎
Why the lust for retribution? Kirsty put Tom through the mangle herself. She’s okay with him now.
DeleteThis S L has made me sit up and think again about my fathers signet ring and whether to start wearing it myself or to pass it in due course to my grandson.
DeleteI'm afraid i too think Natasha has some trick up her sleeve in giving it to Tom.
And was it her grandfathers or has she picked it up in some jewellery or antique shop, or even stolen it.
Oh no, Mrs P, I don’t think she has stolen it! I don’t see Natasha as a thief, but I do wonder if it really belonged to her Grandpa. Tom would only have to find out what Grandpa’s initials were to verify that, but then Tom is so besotted with N, I don’t think it would occur to him to question what she has said.
DeleteIt’s just us (sorry, just SOME of us) who want to know ! 😉
Stasia - the fence is getting painful!!
DeleteDon't forget buying a suitable signet ring on E-bay, using a credit card.
DeleteI hope that this is a stupid idea, and Natasha's gift was genuine.
Oh, the fence spikes, are starting to get umcomfortable. Still, I will remain on them, until proven otherwise. Ouch! 😥
The ring is genuine, obv. What would happen when Tom thanked his mother-in-law if it wasn’t? (Or is she cast in the role of accomplice in Natasha’s so called takeover of Bridge Farm?)
DeleteExcellent point maryellen!
DeleteThe ring I think was in her mother’s drawer.
DeleteWhat good was it doing there?
I doubt whether any of the family thought anything about it and then her mother found it when she was tidying up and asked Natasha if she would like it.
I bet she doesn’t ever remember her grandfather wearing a signet ring.
Tom will never have met the grandfather and therefore won’t feel any attachment to it.
It was just a way for Natasha’s to pretend that she gave the ring to him to show him how much she loves him.
It was good to hear Jim back on form. Counselling is not for everybody, perhaps it's right for Jim but it's his decision.
ReplyDeleteI bow to Stasia’s superior knowledge and I am pleased that Basia says that Counselling is not for everyone.
ReplyDeleteI know very little about psychology .
My only experience of learning anything was when I was doing my M.A. degree and the lecturer who taught me the little I know was, I thought ,excellent.Other students thought the same.
The Pschycology lectures were on a Friday afternoon and we looked forward to them.
It was he who said that when people need help they will ask for it and we should never force it on someone.
I believe that is so.
I hope Alastair will leave Jim alone now.
I honestly cannot see what good it will be if men and women of my generation bombard the helpline with requests for help for something that happened 60 or 70 years ago.
What are they going to do?
Spend time and money on interviewing and perhaps charging 90 year old men?
Most of the abusers are probably dead now anyway.
Certainly the counsellor I was offered post-mastectomy made me run a mile in the opposite direction...
ReplyDeleteCounselling is not suitable or acceptable for everyone.
DeleteBut if accepted, then it is very important to feel comfortable with your counsellor.
Being congruent with your client Is the key to a good counselling relationship.
Can’t believe that Ed is so naive as to be taken in by Tims quiet, but menacing persuasion and agree to carry on with the illegal deliveries for another two weeks.
ReplyDeleteIt’s obvious the tail-ending of Emma’s car was a warning to Ed and he knew it. He should have stuck to his guns and got out straight away.
Something is bound to go wrong in the next few days and I can hardly bear to listen when it does.
Quietly reading the blog before bed I was suddenly subjected to ten minutes of blood pressure raising activity.
ReplyDeleteWith the cat youling at the door but my attention on what I was writing, I opened the door and the cat bounded in with his latest present. As soon as I realised I tried to get him out, but the dog had to intervene. Cat ran upstairs with live mouse, possibly a shrew, and let it go. Dog took over, grabbed mouse and rushed into my bedroom with it and promptly lost it.
I now have a prowling, yowling cat, and have to go to bed with a live rodent in my bedroom.
Lady has returned to her armchairand resumed sleep !
Apologies- I have realised that I should have posted the above on the other page.
ReplyDeleteHope I won't be on the naughty step !
🤭 oh dear Mrs P 🐕 🐈 ( no naughty step from me 😂)
Delete“Where to go from here” Alistair?
ReplyDeleteYou contact one of the appropriate society’s/help line yourself and ask for guidance and support giving an outline of your dad’s situation and how best to proceed (or not) as advised.
Mrs. P. If I were you, I would go to a hotel. Immediately.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest ,if I were Alastair I would leave well alone for a while.
ReplyDeleteIf he and Jazzer are there if needed then that may well be enough.
Another thing about Counselling sessions.
They will be timed.
I am told that the best thing a Counsellor can do is listen.
At the end of 20 minutes or less time does the Counsellor say
“Sorry Mrs Smith ,we will have to leave it there.
Come back in two weeks time and we will continue with your therapy?”
Yes, they listen and Jim would have to relive the past events which he clearly doesn't want to. Apparently we use the same part of the brain for memory as for imagination which after the time lapse may not be beneficial. Kathy didn't have counselling after her rape and only went to the police when she found out about further victims. In Harold's case they may no longer be alive and being wheelchair bound he's not likely to carry on abusing.
DeleteIn this mornings “Daily Mail” Magazine by soap critic writer Jack Stephens (nail on the head job for me and as a review of TA nearby - clearly included!)
ReplyDelete“My concern is that we are losing a sense of character in favour of promoting issues. While many subjects are undoubtedly important in educating the audience and set out with good intentions, there is a danger that some begin to reek of tokenism”.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Should be Jaci Stephens - thought it was me but have just watched the auto correct change back to Jack again, have to have eyes in the back of your head 😳
DeleteAbsolutely. 👍
DeleteWell, that sums things up very nicely for me.
DeleteAnd, although I know Maryellen will say it was a good thing, I think it all started in TA with Sean O’Connor and the coercive control story.
Since then there have been several other stories that feel as if they have been written to ‘educate’ listeners about a particular issue, rather than reflect what might normally happen to a certain character or family.
In particular, I greatly regretted the sacrifice of Nic to warn about sepsis, and now Jim, to reflect the current discussions and disclosures about historic abuse.
I feel strongly, that in a very long term ‘soap’ (sorry, hate the term), the stories should come from the characters, their families, friends and relationships and not be dictated by whatever is featuring in the national newspapers or coming from government departments wishing to promote some sort of warning or other.
The days of The Archers being used to educate farmers how to run their farms are long gone.
Sorry everyone, rant over, but I do so agree with that item Lady R shared with us.
Encouraging an elderly individual to ‘reminisce’, relive a trauma from the past is not a healthy intervention. With the onward March of the ageing process it is important to maintain the normal activities of daily living. Of course for each individual that will different. Therefore, being harassed to participate in something that takes us out of our routines can be just as problematic, and counterproductive to our psychological well-being.
ReplyDeleteExactly my feelings ,Stasia but you put it better than I did,
ReplyDeleteWell said. Jaci Stephens.
The Jim story is an issue too far.