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Life in Ambridge

Comments

  1. I have no more TA comments to post, except I am still an addict.
    I just wanted to be the 1st post.
    Thanks GG for your wonderful administration. 😘

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  2. It's happened again.
    I have just written a post and published ( but it didn't ! ) just as Gary closed it and opened this one.

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  3. ArcherphileSeptember 21, 2019 at 12:29 PM
    Anyone else experienced this? Is it a quirk of Sounds or just my equipment?

    Sorry you are having trouble. I listen to Sounds on my iPhone and my elderly iMac and I think it is a wonderful service. So many programmes to download and listen to at leisure; way better than television.

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  4. Personally I do not have any problem with Lily choosing not to go to university, but do understand Elizabeth's disappointment.
    Selling kitchens, cold calling, advising, following up with administrative details will give Lily useful skills. As she continues to help Elizabeth with some of the responsibility with LoLo she will be able to bring those skills to bear and gradually play a larger role in the running of the enterprise. Learning on the job.
    I see no reason why not in due course she becomes Elizabeth's right hand and eventually takes over the entire running of LL.

    To my deep disappointment my daughter refused to go to university and started working in an area of work despised by many. She used her intelligence and integrity to work her way up to an elevated position and has retired at the age of 53, to start the next chapter of her life running a new business centred around her home, and I am sure she will make a success of doing so.
    I am very proud of her and feel sure that in time Elizabeth too will be proud of Lily when she is running Lower Loxley.

    For many, the University of life, is as valuable as a University of fees.

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  5. MrsP 4.43 p.m. - I agree with you totally. Sometimes one can learn on the job and that is just what Lily will do. My daughter has huge student loans to repay and does not have a career in what she studied for her degrees.

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  6. Justin took David along with him under false pretences as he is not interested in pulling resources to open an abattoir. The appearance of Vince, to me indicates that local farmers will have to use his services.

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  7. Oh, goodness, yes, JE played along with David, totally used him for his own purposes. The shit will hit the fan when the latter finds out.

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  8. Despite my flippant remarks this morning, which were about the script writers and my expectations there, I do think that absolutely Lily shouldn’t go back to university if it’s not for her. I think she made her mind up a long time ago but hadn’t the courage to tell her mother, and was waiting for her to be well enough to take the news. Lily is talented and confident and after all she’s been through she probably needs a bit of continuity at the moment, something steady. I agree she’s destined to run LL. Maybe Freddie will find a talent in the kitchen and the twins will make a great team.

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    1. I certainly hope so Seasider.
      Lily has the conventional intellect, Freddie does not, but that does not mean that he is stupid or without talent.
      Despite the fact that drug dealing is illegal and dangerous, we all know that drug dealers are clever enough to keep one step ahead of the police.
      ( though admittedly not in Freddie's case).
      It takes a certain type of intelligence to be a successful criminal and whilst most right thinking people would not condone it, for some it brings many rewards.
      It was a stupid act that Freddie perpetrated, but he was court and convicted and has paid the price.
      I hope the intelligence that he used for his drug dealing can be put by him to a useful and legal future, possibly enabling his sister and mother to make GG a wonderful venue.
      And I hope it includes horses.

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  9. If Lily has nothing but Lower Loxley ahead of her for the rest of her life, I pity her.

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  10. Sir Ron. 4.42

    I have managed to listen to Sounds tonight without the added ´benefit’ of a strange tune going on in the background all the time. Goodness knows what was happening last night . Perhaps I was somehow picking up a signal from some other station or other - I just hope it doesn’t happen again.

    It’s going to take me a while to get used to Sounds. I’m finding it difficult to navigate at the moment after the very easy way of finding TA on the old iPlayer and I like to listen to a lot of drama too which seems more limited on Sounds until I know how to find what I want.

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  11. Archerphile 10.08pm.
    I can still use BBC iplayer radio. When I first open it it says “Sounds” but once I hit the X in the right hand corner all is laid out as usual. Again when I open up a prog (say TA) it will come up as Sounds but plays the prog ok, but it the iplayer will close completely soon I’m sure.
    I have downloaded Sounds and can see what you mean re navigation another learning curve 😯

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  12. I don’t see why Lily needs pity Maryellen.(21st Sept8:30 pm).
    At the moment she is doing a job she enjoys which may lead to better things.
    Sooner or later she will be running LL.
    Not a bad place to be living I would have thought.
    If and when she has had enough of Russ ,he will be given his marching orders.
    I certainly don’t feel sorry for her.

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    1. Lily trapped at Lower Loxley for ever - never to encounter all the wider world has to offer (surely she is enjoying her job so much because it ISN’T Lower Loxley). Yes, she may never be impoverished in the sense of wanting for a crust, but how impoverished in other ways. Hopefully she might at least get some proper training in the hospitality industry if that is what she really wants to do, and maybe Russ’s interests will take her further afield - if he doesn’t tire of her youthful naivety.

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    2. ......more likely, she tiring of his middle aged neediness, dependency, fussy habits, lack of divorce, career disgrace, ...
      Aside from that, agree, she seems to have narrowed her horizons & experience elsewhere first might be desirable. Her heart is with LL, but it is unfortunate that Freddie is to inherit the property. However, that doesn't mean he can't hand over the management of the business to her when the time comes, if she's still interested. Otherwise, I guess he sells both business & property....can he do that ? I mean, Pargetters aren't aristos, but are landed Gentry. Don't know the rules.

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  13. Archerphile September 21, 2019 at 10:08 PM
    "I’m finding it difficult to navigate at the moment after the very easy way of finding TA on the old iPlayer and I like to listen to a lot of drama too which seems more limited on Sounds until I know how to find what I want".

    I listened to Friday evening's episode yesterday by doing this :
    Open Sounds - Listen - See All Stations & Schedules - scroll down to Radio 4 - tap the Calendar icon on the RH side - there you gat the complete day's schedule of programmes - scroll to TA and tap on it - tap the Play arrow.

    "See all stations" also gives you the ability to go back in time.

    If needed, the Search magnifying glass icon at the foot of the page will allow you to enter a programme name (or part thereof) to give you what you are looking for.

    This is how it works on my iPhone and my wife's iPad. And, given that I must adhere to the title of this blog, that's probably how it works in Ambridge, too! 😁

    Hope that helps...

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    1. Oh, many, many thanks Sir Ron - I shall make a note of your instructions and try again.
      I’m sure others will find this very useful too 😀
      I hope to be proficient in ‘Sounds’ before too long and will probably find much else of interest too. 🤞

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  14. Lily told Freddie she was proud of him to have a job outside Lower Loxley, even as kitchen porter it seems. She had told him how free she felt to be working outside Lower Loxley when she first started in sales and she likes the people who are of her age. She knows how to run the place which she did when Elizabeth was ill. The question of feeling sorry for her doesn't arise as far as I can see. At present she and Russ are together, that's all I know.

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    1. Basia - I didn’t say I felt sorry for Lily here and now,, as you say, she has a job she likes, and her bloke and mum to go home to - I’n concerned by the dire prospect of her getting sucked into Lower Loxley for the rest of her life.

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  15. Basis (and others!), I am pretty sure Lily wasn't running anything at LL! Didn't she just make her Mum some soup every now and again? I wouldn't trust a teenager to oversee events, weddings, conferences, a gift shop, a gallery and a restaurant simultaneously as well as dealing with wages, tax, VAT & legal issues. Would you?
    Totally ridiculous for the scriptwriters to even suggest for a moment that that was the case.

    Of course, that's assuming that any of these things happen at LL - we only have their word for it. After all, they do live in a parallel universe where people were apparently happy to hold their weddings and events in a venue with no alcohol license and where everything was being arranged by a 19 year old with no experience.....

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  16. What about being married in a barn at Brookfield ?
    Nobody seems to have checked up to make sure that there were facilities like enough toilets etc.
    We didn’t hear a great deal about that venture.

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    1. Exactly Lanjan - as a viable business idea it's on a par with Freddie's amazing £15 tours of his mum's attic. I paid less to get into the Colosseum!!!!

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    2. The Brookfield barn had to meet all the regulations for a public venue when The Canterbury Tales was performed there. As to the wedding business being viable, all we know is that hasn’t folded (yet).

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    3. But who on earth runs it for them? Rosie? Each evening would have to go on till the wee early hours, would have to be cleaned the next day, would have to be staffed and catered for and essentials like chairs and tables and lights and ice and a dance-floor would have to be hired. It is a stupid, unworkable piece of ill-thought out pish....

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  17. But Ambridge is a parallel universe. Lily is a super kid who turns up fixes everything when we know that it was Kenton who barely saved the place from ruin and in turn managed to neglect his own business with his wife on tour. It must be fun to get married in a Brookfield barn with rats' droppings and bats swooshing about. It's the rustic atmosphere and who cares about hygiene, health and safety. Who will win in the vegan class? How are scrap cakes classified? What fun!

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  18. For those interested in such things, here are the top 10 nations (by number)visiting our blog in the past 24 hours ;

    United Kingdom
    Italy
    Unknown Region
    France
    Belgium
    United States
    India
    Australia
    Japan
    Greece

    I find that astonishing! Sorry if you don't....!

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    1. Mi hai preso Gary....sono del bel paese....Italia!

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  19. As Lady R. has said. I can still access i-player, by clicking on the X in the top RH corner on the BBC Sounds "download now" screen when it appeared.
    I did this this morning to listen to the TA omnibus - it went back to i-player.

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    1. It appears those with i-phones and i-pads, are having more problems those using android.

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  20. What a storm in a scrap cake ! Jill at her most hysterical & absurd.

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    1. I think it bears out what I said earlier about character led drama resulting in waste-of-listening-time storylines.

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    2. I enjoyed it and do understand Jill's dilemma as possible coercion.

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  21. Who's going to clean the blooming rug, how inconsiderate of Lexi not to have moved to the floorboards.

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  22. Fasten your seat belts...it's going to be a bumpy ride!!

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  23. Thinking of global reach, I'm following you all (should I say y'all) from a train crossing North America, currently in New Mexico. The scale of agriculture is mind-boggling, hundreds of miles of cornfields and cattle ranches, and a train with three locomotives pulling 99 wagons each holding a hundred tons of grain. Can a small village like Ambridge support three working farms in this kind of world?

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  24. Foglie d'autunno ..... Anche tu?

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    1. Si Minty sono qua in Italia da 22 anni......provincia di Trento..pero sono d'origine della Scozia....e tu?

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    2. Sono sposata con un Lombardo da tanti anni. Adesso siamo in inghilterra ma mi sento sempre italiana. Evviva gli Arcieri!

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  25. 😁😁concordo pienamente...che piccolo mondo!!!

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  26. Ee bah gum. Tha knows!!

    Thought I’d join in with all the foreign talk. 😉

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    1. 😀🌷 Pthe - teehee please bear with a piccola diversion!

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  27. I understand that,P tbY
    Failed French 3times .
    Never learned any other modern language although I did pass Latin “O” level.

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  28. Don't make promises like that, Autumnleaves ! I bet we got bits of that exchange, it's good for our brains.....something to do with who came from where in Bella Italia ( is sposata spouse ?) Last bit was 'a small world', which, indeed Gary proves daily - someone in Japan popping into this blog, blimey !

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  29. If we have to post in a foreign language can it please be French - I could manage that, but not Italian or whatever it was!

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  30. If I were Lexi I would be furious to have Jennifer turning up at the hospital as I was going in, possibly in labour, possibly not.
    Is Jennifer going to insist on being present throughout labour and at the actual birth?
    She really is the worst sort of smothering mother/grandmother and Ian & Adam should tell her to butt out!

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  31. I do hope we don't have to listen to the whole bloomin' labour! That 'breathe' thing always gets me - has anyone ever died during labour because they forgot to breathe! Jill was sounding ridiculous tonight - so fussy and over-dramatic. Do people really care that much about judging at these events etc.?

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    1. Hello to Autumn Leaves and Minty. I too have been living in Italy for 46 years but with a break in the 1980s when we lived in London for 3 years and in Virginia U.S.A for 5 years. I am in the province of Reggio Emilia. We ought to do an Italian meet up as I have a friend in Novara who also listens to the Archers.

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    2. Gianna, I would be MORE than happy to attend an Italian meet-up!

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    3. Oh you're not going to believe this but before returning to my husband's homeland we lived in northern Virginia from 1986-1997.
      As for a meet up all'Italiana. ..I'm game

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  32. I agree with you Anneveggie on both counts.
    Let us hope she has had her little son overnight and we have heard the end the end of the whole birthing process.
    As for the F and P Show ,the whole thing was ridiculous.
    Get out now Leonard before it is too late and you start getting to behave in the same way as Jill does.
    Unfortunately ,.I think the process has started.

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  33. Having been involved in many village F & P shows, I thought lasts nights portrayal was pretty accurate! People do get very exercised about the whole thing and rumours run wild if an unexpected or, lord forbid, an ‘outsider’ wins!
    What I found very untypical was Peggy standing in as a judge at the last minute. Usually our judges were booked months in advance via the official WI judging panel or from a recognised RHS- type source. Ian would have been an unlikely choice as a local (therefore perhaps biased) judge.

    Jill was right to be worried about gossip if Leonard had won. I was castigated when I won the ‘best onions’ class when I had only recently moved into the village, but even worse, was a woman! The village men, used to winning all the vegetable classes, were outraged that a mere woman had beaten them. After that I only dared to enter cooking, preserves and flower arranging classes!

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  34. Surely the obvious thing is for the judges not to know who has entered the onions,cakes or whatever.
    If one person (not a judge) assigns each person a number then nobody would know who has won except for the winner.
    Maybe this does happen.
    The one thing I can never understand about these Shows is why anyone would want to grow the largest marrow or pumpkin which presumably is totally inedible

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  35. Anyone looking in from India willing to say hello? There appears to be a few of you....

    And as for Belgium, there's loads of you!

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  36. Archerphile, you know your onions! and I trust your judgement. As for Ian making a swift exit, well this is Ambridge. I also agree with Lanjan that Leonard is mutating into another Jill, more's the pity.

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  37. Interesting that Kirsty is involved in the current birth crisis. Poignant for her, given recent loss, but a welcome antidote to Jennifer, who will be far from pleased to see her around at the hospital !
    Agree, we so don't need the birth agonies, such a drama cliche.
    Maybe it's time for Leonard to pay a visit to his son in India ( if that is where he is ? Can't remember), in order to regain a sense of perspective. ....

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  38. Waters broken,Lexic screaming. That's enough for me.

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  39. I certainly hope we don’t hear what goes on in the delivery suite, especially Ian and Adam shouting, breathe, breathe, push!!

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  40. Gary 8.59 I 'll see what we can do for an Italian meet up. For me spring would be a good time as I shall be moving house soon. If you don't know it Bologna is a good city to visit and there are frequent flights from Britain. Rick Stein did a programme ftom there. I believe it is on Utube.

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    1. Or Verona a beautiful city and I think mid point to us both

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  41. LanJan 9.32
    From my experience in showing at local shows, the judges don't know whose entry is whose, usually a number is given as you suggest, or your name etc is placed underneath.
    When I lived in Llangower, in North Wales, the village show was the most important date in the village calendar , so naturally I had to take part. It can be quite fun if you don't take it too seriously. I remember entering a goose that I had bred in another local show, as I wanted to compete against a man who always won. When I got there she was the only one, so I was a little disappointed, knowing she would be placed 1st. , however, she had two red rosettes as she won the best in the poultry section so I wasn't disappointed.
    On another occasion I took a few veg to Y Bala horticultural show, quite fun to beat the "big boys", they don't like it very much !

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  42. Lexi, Ian..
    Jill, Leonard, Peggy... Good grief.

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  43. Tutti. Bueno sera alla mia famiglia del i Archers.
    This translates, if my very rusty italian is correct - Good afternoon/evening all, my Archers family.

    I am expecting two sore arms tomorrow morning. I had to go to surgery for normal "bloods" this morning, but ended up with a 'flu vaccine in one arm, plus the pneumonia one, in the other.
    Still it has been done without another visit.

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  44. Proud to be Yorkshire.September 22, 2019 at 9:11 PM

    Ee bah gum. Tha knows!!
    Thought I’d join in with all the foreign talk.

    An excellent response. PtbY!

    Это достаточно с иностранными языками! Какой цель в этом блоге? (That is enough with the foreign languages! What is the point in this blog?). And if you insist, please take it outside to Life Outside Ambridge which, by definition, is where it belongs.

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  45. Sorry I posted on the wrong page. It should have been on the Life Outside one.

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  46. Someone who came upon the BBC blog by chance said how impressed they were by the thought provoking comments written in well constructed and precise English, I second that.

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  47. Sir Ron at 22/9 at 9:11P.M
    Wholeheartedly concur re appropriate blog

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  48. Need we be quite so strict & stuffy about this ? Sure, sport, gardening, travelling, pets & personal stories belong in 'Outside Ambridge', but this breaking into foreign tongues sprang from Gary's reports on all the hits from abroad, interesting when it's such an English drama serial. A number of our regular contributors do live abroad, so it's a natural trail of responses.

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  49. Again. I apologise profusely for posting on the wrong site, which I agree with. It was certainly not correct, nor in the right format in that it was not pure English.

    Still onwards + upwards.
    Will tonight in Ambridge, and in the hospital with Lexi producing the babe, be a continuation of Sunday, as an extended episode (as was done with Helen + Rob) or Monday, when we will listen to just the aftermath.

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  50. Hopefully baby has been delivered by now so we just get the reactions.

    I agree with other posters regarding village shows. Even quite modest affairs, like the one I helped with in our old house, use external judges and it all gets taken very seriously.

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  51. Well, we weren't spared, were we ?!

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  52. Heavens Jennifer! You really have become a thoroughly unpleasant person.......grim granny no less!

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  53. Kirsty as birthing partner, well they would do that, pity it's not a girl. Jennifer, take him and run.
    And they got the zodiac signs wrong. Libra is 23 September-22 October, then followed by Scorpio.

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    1. I am a 22nd September babe, so I am a Virgo not a Libra.
      The baby boy has to be a Libra, as today is September 23rd.

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    2. Yes, he is a Libra, but Jennifer was saying it was Libra till midnight otherwise it'd be a Scorpio.

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    3. She did say that, but my thought was that she was exaggerating and that the baby would take a month to arrive as they were being so long about it.

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  54. There are many babies born towards the end of September whose parents celebrated the New Year and threw caution to the wind.

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    1. I am one of those!!
      At least my parents had fun and celebrated + enjoyed themselves and I was the result, who appeared in September, 9 months later.

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    2. Mine born September 21st was conceived on Christmas Day.

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  55. Does any-one think like I do, that Lexi will not give the baby to Adam + Ian?

    What will then happen with Ian + Hugh (arch rivals) and the Grey Gable kitchen/restaurant.

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  56. Well that is one episode I won’t be listening to again.
    Was that really necessary?
    Why couldn’t we have had Jennifer telephoning Lilian saying
    “It’s a little boy”rather than hearing the tactless Lexi asking a woman who has lost her own baby and is unlikely to give birth to another child to be her birthing partner?
    This is just the beginning.
    How long before the Continuity Announcer says that if we have been upset...........
    ..the number to ring is.......

    .

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    1. How do you know that Kirsty is unlikely to give birth? She still could
      Kirsty + Philip could well surprise us all and who knows.
      I don't but do you?

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    2. BBC sounds - no more continuity announcer titi-bits shame 😒

      Excruciating episode!

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  57. Jennifer was simply ghastly. What is the matter with the woman ? Even the classic, 'Oh, he looks like you, Adam!', nor did she ask Lexi how she was feeling. Kirsty was super. It was obvious that Lexi would want her as a partner during those last moments.
    Why on earth did Jennifer make a fuss about a male midwife. Surely any woman in labour just wants someone there who knows what they're doing. Gender is irrelevant.

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    1. It is "Jennifer Dahling" being as she always is - overbearing and wanting to be in control.
      When will she realise that, this doesn't happen.

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  58. Much as I have criticized Lexi, Lanjan (7.57), I think she simply wanted someone she likes & trusts to be with her at that point, & Kirsty rose to the occasion so well. She might have a reaction, of sadness & sense of her own loss, but she wasn't thinking of herself in the moment, & I doubt she'll regret being able to support another woman in that way.

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  59. May I convey my sincere apologies for hijacking this blog...especially when I've only been participating for a week...but there's nothing lovelier than finding people you have something in common with when you are far from home........and besides it's all Gary's fault😊😊😊😊

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  60. Jennifer gave all the signs that she thinks Lexi will not hand over the baby, she didn't want her to hold it in order not to bond and previously she'd questioned Kirsty as to what Lexi told her and she picked up on Lexi saying she felt guilty by not letting Adam and Ian to be present but to her it was to do with the handing over.

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  61. Agreed Basia, I definitely think Jennifer is concerned that Lexi will change her mind about handing over the baby. She was always very determined to keep her children, even when there would have been considerable pressure on her to give Adam up (out of wedlock in the 60’s) and finds it hard to imagine anyone doing so.
    As dramatised births it could have been worse.

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  62. Autumnleaves - gros bisous ! 😙😙

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  63. Jennifer outdid herself in her attitude to Lexi. No acknowledgement of what Lexi had been through giving birth and giving baby away. Just excluding her. Thank goodness for Kirsty.

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  64. Autumnleaves.
    I am enjoying all your wonderful TA posts and thoughts.
    No apologies needed. 😀

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  65. Agree that Jennifer is very concerned, if not in actual fear, that Lexi will not give up the baby.
    The SWs are ramping this up for drama and suspense.
    However I did not get the impression that Kirsty minded being asked to be the birth partner and we do not know that she may never become a mother.
    But if she doesn't, she now has the next closest experience to giving birth herself.
    I was devestated to be unable to give birth and had to have C sections. Then I bred my pet bitch and experienced her giving birth to five pups.
    It was the best experience possible for me and helped me come to terms with my loss at not being able to give birth.
    As far as there being a male midwife in attendance....... 📦 ✔️

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  66. Bets on for baby’s name......I’m going for Rupert!!

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  67. So what happens now?
    Lexi says goodbye to Ambridge and goes back home to her girls in Bulgaria?
    I think not.
    I will agree to differ about Kirsty.







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  68. 🤞 that’s exactly what happens to Lexi.

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  69. I had to laugh at Pip giving Adam advice on parenting. How does she know anything as Rosie is just passed around?!! 🤔🤔🤔

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  70. Listening late, I’m way behind with all the baby comments but my impressions were:-

    I was glad Lexi asked for Kirsty to be with her instead of an committee of Aldridge’s, and Kirsty was magnificent, seemingly knowing exactly what to say and do and how to handle the situation with Adam, Ian and even Jennifer.
    I hope we are not going to have hours of A&I Coochy-cooing over the baby, it could get very wearing.
    Jennifer was awful, trying to micromanage even the photo session, not even thanking Lexi for providing her with a grandson or inquiring how she was after the birth. If she’d had her way, the baby would have been instantly removed from Lexi and put in another room, as they used to do with unmarried mothers years ago!
    I do think Lexi is going to have problems letting go, but wonder if the initial signs of that tonight were a red herring planted by the S/Ws to make us think there will be problems later on?

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  71. Tonight's episode was gagworthy. Jennifer was ghastly, so grasping and obsessed about keeping the baby. Yes it's obvious she's wondering if Lexi really will give her baby up but does she have to be so obnoxious about it. Kirsty was a trooper but did she really have any choice.

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  72. P Tb Y.
    I am going for Giles Patrick Adam.
    I don’t think they will go for one of the “fashionable “ names like Archie or Alfie or Ernie .
    I think Adam will be more traditional .
    Could be Julian,James or Alexander.

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  73. One name only,P tb Y ?.
    OK then.
    Patrick -to please Ian.

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  74. I thought Alexander but what surname will he have? Maybe hyphenate Ian’s and Adam’s.

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  75. How about calling the baby boy Charlie, quite fashionable, good old British name.
    Somehow I don’t think Ian would be too keen though! 😉

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  76. Craig Macey sounds very macho! The next James Bond?

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  77. As Anneveggie says Kirsty was put on the spot, Lexi wanted a woman and it wasn't going to be Jennifer, though she in all her hyper anxiety acknowledged that Kirsty might have felt uncomfortable. To me it was in the manner of making William Ed's best man, cringe...

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  78. MrsP - you were right Jennifer did say, it'll be a Scorpio at this rate.

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  79. I still think that Lexi will not initially, want to give up her beautiful, new baby boy...but will she eventually??

    Jennifer was just too much OTT, esp. as she has grandchildren already. Why so obsessive about this one - is it as it is her beloved Adams child?

    This S/L will drag on + on...

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  80. This is a terrible situation..it leaves me torn

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  81. At least the egg shells got smashed, whatever next.
    I didn't think I'd say this but I hope that Vince will somehow interfere with Justin's plans.
    What's the solution for Ambridge farmers though.

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    1. Vince, thanks to Lilian, learns of Justin's plans and then buys Crowthers. He will then own an abbatour to suit Ambridge, but will charge accordingly.
      Just a thought...
      In either way, the Ambridge farmers will lose out, financially.

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  82. Wondered about something this morning : wasn't there an odd time when Lexi was going through the egg implantation process, prior to insemination? Can't remember the details at all, just that she seemed a bit shifty. Could be that she didn't care for the idea of a stranger's egg & instead had her own egg(s) harvested. In which case, she would be the biological mother, not just the womb-on-loan. This would make it much harder for her to separate from the baby, & mean she'd deceived Adam & Iain.
    Just to add angst & agony to the SL....

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    1. I think at one point she was insistent at attending at least one of those appointments by herself so there could be something coming post birth but not sure what. Lexi did say her daughters got very close to the baby whilst she was back home and one in particular most upset that it was to be given away....

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  83. Eddie managed to insert a reference to the historic moment in the British history, if it's in the Archers it must be important, not the other way round.

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  84. If Eddie gets his way with Martin Gibson, so that Will loses his job, William will also lose his tied cottage, which went with his gamekeeper position.

    Enter - No1 The Green - Home of the Grundy Family.

    This will be intriguing with Will, Poppy, Ed, Eddie + Clarrie, all living together (sadly no Joe).
    Where will George + Keira sleep, when they come to stay with their Daddy aka Ed?
    I just can't envisage this esp. as William will be un-employed. Is this helpful to him and Poppy - he might own the house, but who will pay the bills.

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  85. You never stop worrying about your children even when they grow up so can sympathise with Eddie ‘s angst. However, he needs to realise Will must make his own decisions even if they are the wrong ones. Maybe Will is over the worst and getting back to the work he enjoys will complete the cycle of healing. Acting from Eddie was superb!

    After the episode the announcer said Lexi would be making a confession tomorrow night. I wonder whether Adam is not the father after all! Something is not right anyway.

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    Replies
    1. Miss the continuity announcers tit bits on BBC Sounds - which is now the only option as BBC iplayer radio has now closed!! (So now they are only to be heard if listening live)

      Delete
  86. Has anyone else been trying to tune in to tonight's episode after broadcast ?
    I can usually get it on catch up from about eight o'clock onwards.
    Tonight, whichever way I try, Sounds or catch up, all I am getting is ' sorry the page you are looking for cannot be found'
    I am getting very frustrated.

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  87. It didn’t come up on my listen too list. I went back into schedules and played it from there.

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  88. Mrs P - I have only just been able to listen to tonight ep. on Sounds just before 10.00
    My lovely old radio iPlayer has now been switched off so I have no option but to use Sounds now.
    Despite Sir Rons instructions the other day it took me quite a while to find the right episode amongst the old ones.

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  89. Mrs P, I struggled to find tonight's episode on Sounds tonight. I kept getting the same message as you. I fiddled around and eventually found a screen that would play tonight's programme. I think as PtbY says, I got to it via schedules, choosing Radio 4 first.
    Good luck!

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  90. Yes I finally found it at about ten to eleven, so have just heard it all the way through.
    I was walking Lady in the woods and should have been back in the car for seven o'clock.
    Unfortunately Lady was naughty, chasing a smell, probably fox as it was dusk, she ran to the edge of the wood, over a wall, across the road and over another wall and was lost in the field beyond.
    I was running down the lane waving for cars to stop, and calling her, after I had heaved myself over the wall myself.
    She did eventually come to me, but once in the car I had lost the first five minutes.

    Sorry, I've just realised this is the TA blog.
    Mea culpa

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  91. I’m wondering if Lilian thinks she has found herself a new ‘Tiger’.
    She does seem to enjoy having a ‘bit of rough’ wining and dining her. Also, she sounded quite p.s..d off with Justin last night about his duplicity with David over the old abattoir - so, will she somehow collude with Vince to scupper Justin’s plans and enjoy his attentions at the same time?

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  92. Yes I thought the same! Justin is a bit too refined for her and wasn’t impressed by her inebriation! Could Vince be her new Tiger? She was certainly acting the little girlie Puss Cat complete with giggles!

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  93. No, I don't think so, Lilian is not stupid, she said she would warn Mariella not to carry on with Vince and she didn't conceal it from Justin as to where she'd been.
    The fact that the baby is a boy may play a part, as Lexi has daughters.

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  94. Carolyn ( 7 :27 pm 24thSeptember.
    I think you might be onto something there.
    I have always felt that this handover of the baby was not going to be straightforward .
    I have thought all along that she will want to take the baby back to Bulgaria .
    I am probably wrong and what Lexi is going to reveal this evening may be nothing to do with that.

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  95. Lilian is “common”
    She sounded cheap yesterday.
    What woman who is living with a partner goes out for a lunchtime jaunt with someone like Vince?
    On the other hand she could just be being clever and trying to find out a bit more about what game Vince is trying to play.
    I ,like Ev ,have always thought that Justin is too refined for Lilian-and the other way round too.
    Apart from the obvious,what on earth did the rich Justin see in her?

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  96. Lanjan(9.42am), probably good sex ! We were subjected to some indications, but Also I think they just got on well - she was/is a lot more fun than his grim ex .do agree, she's not a fool, & is up to something. She enjoys flirtation, of course, but she didn't reveal anything to Vince about Justin's plans, when he was fishing, & wasn't secretive afterwards.she was doing her own fishing !

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  97. I do feel for Eddie & Clarrie in their fears for Will ( though I wish she wouldn't witter so ineffectually), but, though he's far from 'ok', really don't think he's about to use the gun on himself. He's trying to live, in fact, & keeping the job & home is essential to him. He would sink further still without them, &, as I mentioned before, there are other methods to kill himself if the suicidal thoughts get the better of him.
    However, the least he can do, for his own sake & his parents', is to see the GP to get help, not another sick note.
    A very stubborn man, set in his ways, with limited perspectives, mental processes pretty much at grunt level.

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  98. Very curious to find out if I was right about Lexi ! Can also see the other possibility that the baby may not be Adam's, but I don't think that fits the dates somehow ( meaning last time with Roy, or what she might have got up to in Bulgatia)
    We'll soon find out, it seems....

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  99. Wow - an insert! “ talk at the market mostly about what happened re Parliament “ I was stunned!

    So Lilian has met her new “Matt” bed hopping about to begin 🤔!

    The Grundy’s current dilemma will no doubt soon be eclipsed by Joe’s death which I hope will draw them all together to the degree that serious conversations regarding Will can take place and hopefully he will agree to have some counselling.

    Brace yourselves baby is home! Where is Lexie? I assume she is to keep her distance while the dads enjoy experiencing the delights of parenthood 😂 Many by their age are delighting in welcoming grandchildren but then again a lady of 74yrs recently gave birth 😱

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  100. I have no firm thoughts re Lexi and the baby. Other than that the SWs have been taunting us with shenanigans from the beginning and have the strings to change or confirm firmly in their hands.

    Will, having got so close to a major disaster by his own hands may well be feeling that this was a wake up call.
    Agree his mental capacity may appear to be at grunt level, but this could be so because of his lack of ability to articulate his feelings. Lack of articulation to others may not necessarily be lack of understanding of the enormity of his recent actions within himself.
    Becoming close to the edge, is for some, as far as they ever go, and the memory of the almost action keeps them safe for the rest of their lives.
    Nevertheless the fear of what might happen again for the loved ones of such people may stay for the rest of their lives too.

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  101. Ev -
    I do love your ' little girly Puss cat ' phrase.
    Priceless !

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  102. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  103. I take great exception to anyone (in this instance Will) being described as having ‘mental processes at grunt level’
    What a nasty and pejorative phase to use about a person, even a character in a radio play!
    Will may well be stubborn, reluctant to take advice and have been through a very difficult time but to describe him as being as completely thick, goes too far.
    I sincerely hope those who have used this offensive phase here today would never do so in real life - in fact I am sure they wouldn’t.
    So please give Will a break and stop making such unpleasant remarks.

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  104. Archerphile, I apologise for having offended you by repeating Carolyn's phrase.

    I think it was a description of Wills presentation, as this is his way, as portrayed by the actor, of expressing his feelings, be they good or bad.
    And I would also say, that if I had a child or a friend who expressed themselves in this way, I hope I would be able to explain to them in a kindly and helpful way, that to make expressive sounds instead of using words to explain how they might be feeling, was not helpful or kindly to whoever they may be trying to converse with, but is instead confusing, because it is perceived as being hostile, and sometimes also aggressive.

    However I do not feel that such a description suggests that this person is thick.
    If your perception is such, then again I apologise for offending you.

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  105. An excessive & unpleasant attack, Archerphile, to see on my way to London ! I make no apology for saying what I was thinking about aspects of Will's character. Inappropriate to speculate what I may or may not say about people in real life.

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    Replies
    1. Perhaps not, and I apologise if you were personally offended. I still think it was an unnecessarily hash thing to say about anyone, even a radio character. I was paying you the compliment of saying I was sure you would *not* use it in real life, perhaps you misunderstood my penultimate sentence.
      I apologise for spoiling your trip to London, that was certainly not my intention.

      Delete
  106. My thoughts on Will.
    He should go back to work, do his job as per his job description, keep looking after and loving Poppy, in his cottage (part of his employment) and his working dog and return slowly, but surely, back to normallity.
    He does realise and why, what he did and I personally think he probably knows this.
    Clarrie, Eddie, + Bev, can all keep a close watch on him, by helping out and so reducing any home pressures.
    I, personally feel, that Eddie (even as a father with his much loved son), had no right to try and get him sacked.

    As others have said, I think that Joe's final demise, will change the whole Grundy Family dynamique, with their relationships and situations.



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  107. Perfectly put Miriam- I agree, Will probably does know and understand what he did, and this knowledge will hopefully protect him from doing anything similar again.

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  108. With regards to Will, his mental health, his job and his children - I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to call the police, his employer and social services in the wake of what has happened. It beggars belief that some people think that all he needs is a bit of time to sort himself out. He almost drunkenly shot his brother & his father. He drags his toddler to work with him - work that involves traipsing around forests in the middle of the night checking for illegal traps etc. He sits around being paranoid and blaming the world for all his ills.
    He didn't have a touch of the flu folks - he is in the midst of a full scale meltdown! He needs help and his child needs to be removed from his custody immediately. He doesn't need cups of tea & a chat or two with his mum- he needs medicines & psychiatric support. If this were reality he would invariably have been sectioned by now.
    If anything were to happen to him, his children or anyone in the village I would blame his family as much as Will. Their inaction is shocking.

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  109. Carolyn. 20.12am
    I understood you to mean that Will's communication skills are are more neanderthal in expression.
    Miriam I agree he is an adult who lacks insight and is unable to appreciate his parents concerned interventions. He will go back to work and then maybe he'll realise how much he needs to take time and decide on his future. But given his rigid perspectives on his position and that of others (especially women) in his social life he will certainly need help.

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  110. Gary 5.20 pm
    I think I have made similar comments. Brian should not have colluded with Eddie to omit telling M.Gibson about the incident with the gun.
    Will should be deemed To be a risk to others, never mind himself.

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  111. I think Carolyn’s grunt comment could literally be applied to Neil Carter - he grunts when he’s thinking,. Because he sounds like an animal that grunts doesn’t necessarily mean he’s thinking like an animal that grunts.

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  112. Will has needed help for years
    I think Clarrie must bear some of the blame for his behaviour.
    His brother runs off wife his wife and his mother persuaded him to be Best Man at the wedding!
    Had William turned the gun on either Eddie or Ed or even himself there would have been an outcry.
    Why didn’t Social Services do something about it?
    The answer of course is that they probably didn’t have a clue what was going on because his mother thinks that by making nourishing stews and saying a lot of “Oh Willyums “he will be as right as rain.
    On her tombstone should be the words.
    “Clarrie Grundy who always meant well “

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  113. What I like about this blog is that everyone is very polite to one another, but I would say - reading recent remarks - please lighten up. I fail to see how anyone can be offended on behalf of a fictitious character. If I tell you that I think Lillian is an hilarious old slapper would that offend you? It is only my opinion after all. And so it was with Mrs P's remark about Will - only an opinion directed at no-one in reality.

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  114. The police don't know who ran Matt Crawford off the road because no one told them and the Grundys keep it secret, including Emma. Social services don't know about William's incident with the gun for the same reason and he told the doctor that he needed time off sick. Ed transported illegal chemicals and his accomplice escaped with the evidence. This is Ambridge and not real life which it's 'supposed' to reflect.

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  115. I’d like to think so but I am still on the fence with this one!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oops reply to Mrs P 4.55pm. Phone updated as I hit publish and quite a few posts in between.

      Delete
  116. Basia - quite an eye-popping list of what the Grundy's have been up to recently! I would hate to have to live next door to scum like that...

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  117. I have given my own thoughts about the Will situation, which I won't change.
    It will be interesting how the SW's decide to resolve this, along with the Lexi/Adam/Ian/new babe scenario, along with how Joe's death will happen.
    There's so much to intrigue us Archer's listeners, not forgetting the Ambridge Christmas "extravaganza".
    Will it be Lynda or Joy?? I see "handbags at dawn". 🤣

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  118. GaryGilday September 25, 2019 at 6:27 PM

    I would hate to have to live next door to scum like that...

    Phew, steady on, Gary!

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  119. Sir Ron Norris. 6.10pm.

    With you all the way kiddo.
    Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and there is too much of everyone being offended nowadays. Freedom of speech is deffo a thing of the past.
    I agree that Lillian is a right old gin soaked slapper. There , I’ve said it, will probably get vilified for it but I don’t care. I’d still go on a night out with her......the only fun person in the village I reckon.

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  120. Proud to be Yorkshire.September 25, 2019 at 6:43 PM
    "I’d still go on a night out with her"

    So would I, although I can't say she has quite the same appeal for me as she did in 1964. Both 17 at the time and she had a lovely voice with just a hint of a lisp. Very attractive - but all those years in Guernsey, bored out of her mind and swilling gin have taken their toll.

    As for me, it's almost 7pm so time for my large vodka and tonic...🥃

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  121. What about Tracey ,P btY?
    I wouldn’t want to go out with Lilian.
    That dreadful cackle would drive me round the bend and if she tried to call me “Dahling”
    that would just be the finish.

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  122. Sorry but I have to object to a comment or more, which have called The Grundy's "scum".
    They are just a family with a lot of problems, but they do care for each other, try to make a living (which is not always an honest one - acknowledged) and do join in and help with Ambridge village events.
    They mean well and do have their family interests at heart.
    They scam yes, but scum??

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  123. Lanjan.

    Tracey. Yep she could join Lillian and I.

    Ps. Sir Ron .....love the hat.

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  124. Well now..... there's a turnaround !

    And there we all were getting ourselves in a lather over Will.
    And Ian solved it for us.

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  125. I think that is very brave and sensible of William and I wish him well.

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  126. Miriam, I'm with you.
    I am not offended but I do not like the Grundys being called scum for all the reasons you presented, plus more.
    I prefer to see them as being overloaded with ' native intelligence '.
    Intellect can take you far in life, but native intelligence further when the chips are down.

    I would not wish to be out or about with Lillian or Tracey.

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  127. So Will has No. 1 The Green conveniently empty for him, Poppy and possibly his parents. What happens to Ed?

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  128. Hopefully tonight is a turning point for William. My guess is that Joe will exit fairly soon and William & Poppy will move to No1 the Green, along with Carrie & Eddy. Not quite sure what will happen to Ed, but hopefully he will get back with Emma and they will be able to to find something they can afford, maybe a renovation project?

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