Life in Ambridge
Thank you Angela Piper, RIP Jenny
Life in Ambridge
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Lif in Ambridge
Archer Family tree up to 2000, (pre Helen, Pip & Tom’s off-spring)
Life in Ambridge
Nothing to do with the current story-line but rather cute
A lovely portrait of Angela Piper. Thank you KP
ReplyDeleteBeautiful.
ReplyDeleteShe looks incredibly like Mr S's cousin Angela.
ReplyDeleteI echo Archerphile’s post KP
ReplyDeleteBasiaJanuary 26, 2023 at 7:25 PM
ReplyDeleteStella has been given a carte blanche by Adam to buy her expensive new drill, Brian will hardly care.
I find Ruairi nauseating, at least now there'll be no cosy chats with Jennifer which I found outrageous.
He chose Julianne over all of them, Christmas, when Brian was taken ill, go, go, I won't miss you.
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AmbridgesMrsPJanuary 26, 2023 at 8:18 PM
Interesting to hear that we ( we who did the following) were perhaps unfair in thinking that Stella would be relishing the power of managing the farm without interference from Brian. Visiting Ruth to bolster her confidence was surely the opposite of what some of us expected.
However I felt that Adam was too hasty in pressuring her to go ahead without allowing Stella to fully explain Brian’s caution.
Is this the S/W ploy to finish off Home Farm by going completely broke with Brian unable to put any hope or energy into the future ?
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Sarnia January 26, 2023 at 11:46 PM
Oh dear, 'Horse' and 'Stable Door', Brian.
maryellenJanuary 27, 2023 at 7:59 AM
ReplyDeleteI hate it when TA gets shouty and I’m afraid there will be more to come when the contents of the will are known. I can well understand why Ruairi wants to get away from them all and return to his more rewarding life with mother-substitute Julianne.
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Lady RJanuary 27, 2023 at 10:12 AM
It happens doesn’t it R & J / H & M 🤔
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Proud to be Yorkshire.January 27, 2023 at 9:11 AM
I haven’t listened to the archers since last summer. Didn’t miss it. After Lanjan told me on Monday about Jennifer I’m back in the fold. I’m sorry about Jennifer, always liked her.
Thought the way Brian opened up to David was really good.
I shall be back to reading this blog everyday and hope to catch up with everything asap.
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ArcherphileJanuary 27, 2023 at 9:42 AM
It will be lovely to have your comments PtbY. I’m sure they will be interesting and perhaps give a different take on events.
Lady RJanuary 27, 2023 at 10:09 AM
ReplyDeleteCC “Hip hip hooray” 🤗 🙋🏻♀️
Tonights epidode listening to Alice + Kate, and then finding the journal, brought back memories in a similar scenario.
ReplyDeleteLittle Sis + I were clearing out our late Mums wardrobe and found 3 newspapers on a top shelf. At first these were meaningless, until little Sis broke down and sobbed her heart out. Each newspaper was the Daily Telegraph from the day, on which each of her three children were born...Little finds mean so much.
BBC have got round to putting a piece about Jennifer on the website, basically a lovely obituary, not a lot about the actress.
ReplyDeleteAnother episode that had me crying, I have not managed a single episode completely dry dyed this week, mind you I cry at the drop of a hat, embarrassing at times
KPnuts, I can't find the piece you mentionned on the Archers website. Am being blind or has Auntie Beeb hidden it elsewhere?
DeleteI can't find it either
DeleteI followed a link from Facebook, it doesn’t seem to be on the main Archers website
DeleteWhat a magnificently written episode. I lived every moment of it and admit to tears blurring my vision by the end. It also seemed to have so much content and therefore felt longer than usual.
ReplyDeleteWell done everyone and thank you especially Angela Piper 💐
For the first time for I don’t know how long I sat and just listened.
ReplyDeleteAnd listened intently to every word.
It has been a SL well constructed.
It gave the siblings and us a cogent account of Jennifer in her final months of life.
It was lovely.
The Archers at its best.
I was going to start this comment with a question - so anyone else crying at this episode? I thought it might just have been me, but no, lots of tears being shed. Silly, I know, but things like this just bring back personal memories of loss. I suppose that's really why we're crying, but memories are precious and anything that reminds us of people who've gone before has to be seen as a good thing.
ReplyDeleteI’m looking forward to hearing more about Adam and Tom’s idea for an edible garden as a visitor attraction, which I imagine will be a modern take on the Victorian kitchen garden like the restored one at Heligan in Cornwall. They could call it Jenny’s Garden (or something else less formal than theJennifer Aldridge Memorial Garden) in recognition of two of her talents - cooking and gardening. It could have a blogspot on the village website (I wonder who will take over as web manager?)
ReplyDeleteWhat a very good idea Maryellen. Yes, Jenny’s Garden would be a much more appropriate name than something more formal.
DeleteAnd though I have often felt that Jennifer and I grew up together (being the same age) and therefore had an affinity, I think I must be alone in not having shed any tears. I often do when listening to or watching programmes, but not over Jenny or Brian or any of their squabbling children. I found last nights toast in the Bull, with a vociferous Joleen, too dramatic and overdone. Sorry everyone, I must be hard hearted but none of this weeks programmes have induced my tears.
No tears here either. I’m afraid I seem to have got hardened the older I’ve got.
DeleteI thought it odd dragging Brian to the pub. The last place he would have wanted to go, I thought, whilst everything is still raw. Yes I can understand him going for a walk on his own, to be with his thoughts and memories but to the pub!!! Thought that would be after the funeral.
Do siblings really row like this at such a time? I find it very disrespectful to Jenny.
Archerphile - I agree with you! PtbY too.
DeleteI'm with Archerphile and PtbY, emotions are for real life and we have all experienced grief, some for longer than others and there's no need to explain, you feel how you do.
DeleteI am astonished when I hear people described as the best ever, I've made it clear to my family that I hope they won't say such things about me.
No tears here either, but I've had a lot of practice.
ReplyDeletePub: perhaps it's what blokes do.
It is the personal memories that such episodes bring back for many (as with Miriam and Ev and yes I am a me too) that release the emotions, and the cast obviously felt it in this last week. They are no doubt sad to lose another original member of the cast and if Angela is or has been poorly it was their way of showing how proud they were of her as a fellow actor and were saying goodbye. The third old time actor lost to them in less than a year. Although still all alive 🤗
ReplyDeleteJune on her way to 104 this years.
As Lady R says, think that often drama triggers sad memories and you find yourself crying for the person you were or reliving those sad times.
ReplyDeleteAs I have said I cry stupidly easily and it doesn’t always reflect my emotional state. A huge number of my wedding photos show me with a shiny red nose ( not a good look) I just don’t deal with emotion very well 🙃
But you're probably all the better for it. Better out than in, as they say.
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DeleteI think that a radio programme which is just listened to and not seen, creates images in each and every-ones own minds, as to the characters. These then become real, so when one leaves for whatever reason, a member of this imaginary yet real group, the departure becomes quite realistic.
DeleteThis is what The Archers means to me and how I listen + react to it.
This is why I hate to see photos of the actors because they often disagree with what my brain has conjured up. However, I didn’t mind seeing ‘Jennifer’ at the top of this page because she looks just like the character I already had in my head.
DeleteMine was very different. My Jenny had lovely silver streaked darkish hair, cut shortish + slightly curly, which framed her face in a sort of "pixie" look. It's amazing how our imaginations are so very different.
DeleteOne character who seems so real to me is Brian, who I envisage as my late Dad!
I wonder if any one else imagines an Archers character like a family member, be they departed or still here.
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DeleteMy brain must operate differently because I don’t feel the need to create mental pictures of the characters. I just take on board whatever the programme tells us about them from time to time, so I know for example that Lily is a blonde because of references to her spun gold hair in Russ’s portrait of her.
DeleteI like seeing the actors’ publicity photos and reading about them, America’s as the biopics in a theatre programme. Even when they are in country wear, I just see them as actors dressed up,, and not as the characters they play.
I have no idea what most of the characters look like, except that most of the pictures on the biography pages are wrong and look nothing like the actual inhabitants of Ambridge!
DeleteOne of the few exceptions is Brian. He looks like King Charles.
maryellen, I wonder if you've got aphantasia like me?
(Although you're far better at remembering little details than I am - I completely forgot Lily was supposed to be blond. If I remember correctly, you're an audio describer, so I guess such attention to detail is really rather necessary.)
I think my main trouble is poor visual memory - I’ve sometimes joked that with my dodgy memory for faces and places, I shouldn’t be an audio describer! (Though we work entirely with a live performance or a video recording of it, so it’s not a problem.). Like you, OWiAS, and Lady R, i’m certain individual TA characters don’t look like their actors, without having very much idea what they do look like.
DeleteI remember one theatregoer, blind from birth, saying plaintively Why do describers always tell us the colour of a someone’s hair? How can it be so important? I don’t feel it’s important to me to imagine the details of a radio (or book) characters appearance but it’s helpful to have some idea of whether they are attractive or maybe disabled because that can affect their perception of themselves, also people’s behaviour to them and vice versa.
I know what many of the actors look - like but not all. One that did surprise me was Susan the actor is such a slight person and not what I was expecting at all although I couldn’t describe what I thought she might be like anyway, Neil also shorter and quite cuddly. A few have voices so much younger than their age too and I do feel the voices and like reading a book can imagine the surroundings of where the SL is very easily.
ReplyDeleteI put myself through the "ordeal" of listening to the Omnibus this morning, and so benefited from it. I really appreciated the acting, the well written S/L's and how emotions changed over the week for them all.
ReplyDeleteWhat I hadn't really noticed, but then became so apparant, was how well both David and Ruth coped + talked, in their chats with Ruairi and Brian...They were calm, understanding + caring, without interfering.
And yes there were some tears again - just call me a saddo! 😪
PS I missed the description of Peggy in the weekly episode, something like - shrunken, sitting with a shawl round her. My thinking is next stop The Laurels....
Delete...with The Lodge being bought by Grey Gables, where Adil, Oliver or the secret partner, living.
DeleteOops speculation....sorry!
Nothing wrong with speculation Miriam.
ReplyDeleteIt must be difficult for the scriptwriters; sometimes a actor will presumably express a desire to leave the show & the storylines can be written to accommodate this or the character recast, other times an actor may die or become ill suddenly, as has happened recently then story arcs presumably have to be revised at relatively ( within the context of such a long narrative) short time span.
I am finding the story line of Jenny not sharing her diagnosis very involving, and thought provoking. I can fully understand Jenny not wishing to undergo surgery, I suspect that might be my choice if I found myself in her position, and I come from a family where medical conditions are not much discussed, possibly we’re all really healthy but I’m not sure.
I am appalled by Lilian’s behaviour, especially towards Tony and Pat. She has joined the ranks of the Me, Me, Me brigade, everything is about her, her feelings, what she went through, how unfair everyone, including even Jennifer herself, has been.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant acting by Sunny Ormonde but Lilian has become a very unlikable character I am afraid.
Totally agree.
DeleteI also totally agree ! Lillian's behaviour is beyond belief
DeleteLilian was having a fun time away with her sister and suddenly, inexplicably found her collapsed and dying.
ReplyDeleteShe then finds that Jenny had a terminal medical condition that she had chosen not to disclose.
Lilian's in an angry, guilt-ridden, grief-stricken panic; witnessing sudden, unexpected death does that to people and perhaps we might need to cut her some slack.
I agree with :
Delete1. ARCHERPHILE
2. PtbY
3. Sarnia
Yes Lillian is being selfish and is very angry, but as Sarnia has described her and suggested we might cut her some slack, I agree that we need to do just that.
I also feel that Tony and Pat are to be congratulated on maintaining silence along with Brian.
Each of them have carried an emotional burden for several months and are now taking the flack from having done so with dignity.
Indeed they have.
DeleteYes, I have sympathy for Lilian.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Mr S eventually died in his sleep the journey towards that final sleep was turbulent and tortured.
While many aspects of the restructuring of house and garden bring me great joy, I am constantly aware that it is a selfish joy because it has only come about by means of his suffering.
Then I begin to question whether I was too enmeshed in my own exhaustion and failed to give him enough of the support and understanding that he really needed.
I was the weak one, needing all those operations, but he's the one who died. It's survivor's guilt, and I feel for Lilian, I really do.
I think Sarnia is right about Lilian being an example of survivor’s guilt, translated into anger with Jennifer for a) not sharing the news about her heart condition with both her siblings and so excluding Lilian, and b) accepting Lilian’s invitation to a sisters’ weekend away together and so putting an unprepared Lilian.at risk of a highly stressful experience that actually happened. Lilian clearly feels guilty about not handling the situation better and upset at being made to feel inadequate, and that’s now coupled with the anger which I understand is one of the recognised stages of grief. Tony is a substitute for Jennifer in this.
ReplyDeleteI can’t judge Jennifer’s decision in general, about telling her family or not, but I feel she may be somewhat to blame for agreeing to the trip and putting Lilian in that position. I sympathise with Lilian’s turmoil - but hate the way she is expressing it. She desperately needs to de-centre!
....but it's still too raw and too recent for her to let go.
ReplyDeleteI so agree, along with her feeling of pure helplessness, when Jenny collapsed.
DeleteShe is also still in shock.
ReplyDeleteApologies if I have been insensitive to those of you that have experienced loss.
ReplyDeleteI have not done so since my parents died within a few months of each other when I was in my early thirties. My greatest sadness was that our very young children would grow up without knowing their grandparents, and being unable to share their milestones and progress with, particularly, my Mum. But I don’t remember feeling angry with anyone, or blaming anyone for not telling me that my Mum apparently had a very weak heat due to severe asthma attacks over many years.
I only remember feeling very sad
As for Lilian, I expect the anger will abate and she will eventually realise how unfair she has been, particularly to Tony who had, admirably in my view, followed Jennifer’s wishes and not disclosed her illness. That was her decision to make and he and Brian followed her wishes implicitly.
Tony is distressed by her reaction but I'm sure he understands.
DeleteDon't concern yourself, AP, as everyone's circumstances and experience are different. It also depends on the nature of the relationship.
ReplyDeleteMy eldest sister died still angry with her mother. I never saw the point because I thought she had made the best of a bad start in life.
I was certainly angry with Mr S as I began to do battle with the consequences of his refusal to accommodate change. Now so much of it is done I feel that at least this way I can have what I want. While he lived everything had to be what he wanted.
Lilian needs time.
My daughter was angry with him too, for entirely different reasons. With time she has come to see that he too was the victim of early experiences and couldn't help their effects on him.
ReplyDeleteLilian still doesn't know about the diary.
Lilian is just Lilian, emotional and volatile, that's why Jennifer didn't tell her, for fear of pressure from her and possibly the children. She might have succumbed and perhaps not survived the operation.
ReplyDeleteLilian was the last person to spend time with Jennifer even if it included accompanying her in an ambulance, perhaps in time she will feel honoured that it fell to her.
I hope that when Adam made the appointment to sadly register Jennifer's death, he did an "all in one" one. It makes things so much easier, but it is quite upsetting at the time. This is when all things like pension, passort, driving licence "blue badge" (not that Jenny had one) etc. are cancelled at the same time. It is hard seeing some things being cut to render these items invalid and seals the sad loss of a loved one.
ReplyDeleteI found it made things much easier when Mike passed and was relieved we didn’t have to deal with it all separately given that the Will etc did fall into our court. I can’t remember things being cut but then a lot about that time is a bit fuzzy in my mind.
DeleteBoth the passport and driving licence had a large corner cut off and I was given back the pieces! It was so final along with the death certificate, medical notes etc esp as there had been a post mortem and referred to the coroner.
DeleteIt is no wonder my siblings and I reacted like the Aldridges!
I was telephoned by a friend who told me that somebody had died in The Archers and I then listened to the episode in question.
ReplyDeleteI caught the episode where Chris and Alice went to see Ruarie and then having read the comments on our blog I decided to listen to other episodes.
I found them mawkish to be honest.
None of them moved me to tears and I am not a hard woman.
I quite understand why Jennifer didn't tell Lilian and Tony did the right thing in telling only Pat
(half an hour later)
I decided to 'phone my sister who is still an avid listener and she thought the same as I did in that
Lilian has gone completely over the top.
I think you and I are in agreement on all points, LanJan. No tears from me either.
DeleteOh
ReplyDeleteSo Jennifer was 78yrs!!! Susan - ooh well that’s all right then 😱 it’s obvious she has not met any of us young things 🤣
ReplyDeleteBy my reckoning, Peggy was 20 when she had Jennifer and will be 99 in November this year. I suspect the TA team will keep her alive long enough to celebrate her 100th birthday next year, albeit remotely!
ReplyDeleteAlso last night Lee refused a receipt for his card payment in the village shop. Would this be because he bank’s on line and can check his individual spends and running total at the drop of a hat?
ReplyDeleteI always have a receipt and note purchases and keep a running total, online purchases are also noted and added to this. Fortunately I am able to clear account each month but still could not envisage being unaware of what that total is going to be!
Couldn’t immediately place Lee, thought maybe Rex - bland voice again…. I saw a friend yesterday who listened to TA from the start but has given up in more recent times because she cannot get to grips with who is who among many of the younger to mid generations 😕
I didn't recognise Lee either, until his name was spoken, I would have if he was at Bridge Farm. I missed the receipt but noticed that Justin made him buy more then he'd intended.
DeleteIn France paper receipts will be stopped from April 1 (?!) and in some shops you have to ask if you want one, some again offer the online option. I'll take paper copies for as long as possible, especially with the prices going up all the time.
I feel exactly the same as Lady R’s friend about the Royal Family! No problem with TA characters and their voices (except sometimes the ‘old boy’ accents of Justin and Oliver but fortunately they rarely appear together). If ever in doubt, I check the daily synopsis on the BBC’s TA website and/or The Ambridge Reporter (though neither is 100% accurate and the latter is disappointingly biased at times.). If your friend has online access, Lady R, she might find them helpful as well as TA’s Characters pages..
DeleteWhat I find strange is the gradual loss of accents - Ruairi and Jakob spring to mind who now sound the same as so many others.
DeleteI hope Iain and Natasha never lose their Irish/Welsh ones, nor Usha her distinctive one, that is if she ever appears again!
I love to "old boy" accents of Jim, Justin, and Oliver. These characters are portrayed by three very well known actors, and their voices are part of their trademark, both now in 2023 as to when they first started in the acting proffession. Had Nigel survived, then he would still have his "old boy" accent.
DeleteI've no problem with public school accents in general, Those we hear on TA sound pretty authentic. to me. I have more of a problem with the non-authentic sounding accents adopted by some of the cast, especially the faux rural accents like Clarrie's. My difficulty with Justin and Oliver is distinguishing their very similar voices, not their 'old boy' accents as such. I don't have the same difficulty with Jim's voice.
DeleteTo me they are very different and easily recognised. But then we all listen to, imagine and interpret The Archers in our own individual ways, which makes things so interesting.
DeleteGosh! That’s amazing, Miriam - you hearing Justin and Oliver with very different voices and me thinking the two actors are vocally dead ringers! But, as I said, not a great problem for me, because they usually have individual scenes in which their character is swiftly identified by name or context, and it’s rarely that you hear both soundalikes at once.
DeleteOur views are so different yet again. I do enjoy reading your Archers thoughts though, even if these are polar opposites. I do get food for thought, to ponder on.
DeleteRe paper receipts, if they stop giving them it will make it difficult for people who help by shopping for older/housebound people. I shopped for someone frequently until they passed on and wouldn't have felt right if I couldn't give them a receipt to show exactly how much had been spent and how much their change was.
DeleteTo me, Oliver is smooth and Justin is more gravelly.
ReplyDeleteI have no difficulty distinguishing Justin and Oliver either.
ReplyDeleteJustin always sounds as though he needs a good cough to clear his throat! I find him very difficult to listen to. Whereas Oliver, to who, I have listened for years in multiple roles has a much smoother voice. Both have similar upper class accents (i.e. they ‘talk proper’) but the sound of their voices is totally different.
..as is Jim.
DeleteAnd speaking of voices - listening to Freddie tonight reminded me how much I dislike his.
ReplyDeleteBtw, did I hear Alice correctly and Jennifer’s funeral will be in a month’s time? I do hope I’m wrong and it will be sooner.
I heard that also which surprised me. If the funeral is to be at St, Stephens with Alan officiniating, I would have thought it would be sooner....
DeleteThese days I'm afraid you have to join the queue.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I'm afraid that means another 4 weeks of confrontational drama, the scriptwriters' speciality!
DeleteI too find Oliver and Justin easy to distinguish and would agree with ARCHERPHILE description of smooth and gravelly.
ReplyDeleteMy problem with Oliver is my interior vision of him which is very much at odds with the actors actual appearance, and since he has always been in work whenever I see him in some drama or other his distinctive voice - Oliver - comes to mind and it’s not the man I am seeing on the screen at that moment, and I’m befuddled.
That was me!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm prepared to concede that Oliver's voice is more lightweight than Justin's.
DeleteThe strange thing about Simon Williams (Justin) is that his voice was perfectly clear and normal when he was younger. I have been watching old episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs in which he was a main character.
DeleteSomething has happened to his voice as he has aged and I remember being quite worried when he first appeared on TA that he had a serious problem with his throat. It doesn’t seem to have improved at all and, as said before, I find it difficult to listen too.
And yes it was Sarnia who mentioned the difference in voices, I just agreed, so the plaudits should go to Sarnia. 🙂
So far,Shula’s name has not been mentioned in relation to Jenny’s death.Although the actress has retired,perhaps we could hear her (or of her) between now and the funeral which I think she would attend.
ReplyDeleteOr Phoebe, who surely would be coming back down to her family and attending the funeral?
DeleteOr Jennifer’s sister-in-law? Wouldn’t she attend?
DeleteIt was Ruairi who said he'd be back in a month's time for the funeral because he has "uni stuff" to be getting on with ie working for Julianne. The less I hear of him and Jennifer the better, though I understand what he said.
ReplyDeleteThere's also the question of Noluthando and her brother S (his name not spelled anywhere) to come from South Africa.
Sipho?
ReplyDeleteAll about doubles: the twins about to launch a double modelling career, Pat and Tony double booked for the 14th, she with girls he with boys, Tom planting two crops to be replanted and Brian moving between his house and home, at least easy to find him.
ReplyDeleteI didn”t think Tom had actually planted the gooseberries in the wrong place - wasn’t it a hastily invented substitution for what he was originally going to tell Tony but. changed his mind at the last minute? I haven’t figured out why they are referring to an edible forest garden when the only trees mentioned have been espaliered apples and no edible wild plants, only ordinary herbs. They couldn’t have carved it out of woodland surely, in the short time that’elapsed and with everything else that’s going on? More info please, scriptwriters!
DeleteYou may be right, something about the gooseberry in the middle? Still, if you plant and replant that makes it double work, so my idea stays fixed.
DeleteI listened again to that bit, yes, of course, Tom brought up the gooseberries when Natasha shut it him up about the modelling agency, Tony will find out later about both.
DeleteToo early for the wild plants, Maryellen. If they're growing from seed these won't be sown until next month. Bare root plants can go in now, but anything else is risky, even in a greenhouse.
DeleteQuite a few of my plants seem to think it's wake-up time, but the frost has caused such devastation, I just hope they haven't got it wrong
I was given an interesting book by Martin Crawford called Creating a Forest Garden (working with Nature to create edible crops). I will lend it to Adam as so far they seem to be planting out a fruit garden rather than a forest garden. Espalier apples aren't really an example of working with Nature.
ReplyDeleteOnly just read your comment Maryellen. I agree.
DeletePerhaps it was a crabapple ☹️
Delete🤣
DeleteI too am confused about this edible garden. Suddenly a free plot of land, as Adam said at least half an acre, has been found at Bridge Farm and is now being planted, in time for give profit this year.
ReplyDeleteWhat is confusing me, is that I cannot understand nor see the difference, in what Bridge Farm and BridgeApp, are already doing on an organic crop farm?
Please explain someone as to what it really means, as I just don't get it@
If the idea is to show that a vegetable/fruit garden can be grown instead of flowers, with people thinking "I can do that" then this means fewer Bridge Farm customers, as others will be growong their own...No idea, as said 🤷♀️🤷♀️
Deletemaryellen commented on "Life in Ambridge"
Delete9 hours ago
Am having a sleepless night so here's my answer to your question, Miriam,as best I understand the situation! The Edible (Forest) Garden is another Bridge Farm initiative, like the Farm Shop and the Tea Room concession, separate from the BridgeFresh initiative. Its main purpose (as proposed by Adam) is as a visitor attraction, so the profits will come from increased footfall in the Farm Shop etc, and possibly an entrance fee. I imagine surplus produce from the Garden will be sold in the Farm Shop. At the moment it sounds like the fruit section of the Victorian 'big house' kitchen garden, which is what I'd been imagining but obviously without the walls . Presumably, edible plants that wild foragers go for will come later, grown from seed (as Sarnia says)., and they represent the 'forest' element. (I wonder if Janice's book mentions that plants like Good King Henry (aka Poor Man's Asparagus and Lincolnshire Lettuce) are prolific seeders, and when once they were grown to eat in cottage gardens, they are now treated as bothersome weeds?) I expect the Garden will have an educational function too, which suggests that handout literature, guided tours and school visits may also be on the agenda and perhaps related merchandise and books on sale in the Shops and Tea Room? It will certainly create a definite role for Adam as Garden Manager, instead of the general skivvy he is now. And for Tony, as consultant, it twins nicely with his role as consultant to the Rewilding Project. Win, win!
In Response to a comment by Miriam
I was going to have a go at explaining the Edible Forest Garden for Miriam but am glad you got there first maryellen. That was so much more clearly put than I would have managed.
DeleteKP - your answer with such comprehensive clarity should merit a position of Advice/ Consultant on The Archers website IMO !
DeleteThank you.
He does mention Good King Henry in his book, but not Lincolnshire lettuce Maryellen. GKH apparently will do well in shade and so can be useful as under planting. Normally larger trees would be planted eg Eucalyptus as a medicinal tree, Sweet chestnut, Lime (edible leaves etc) , standard or field fruit trees, then lower growing bushes like Hazel, Saskatoon, Elder etc, nitrogen fixers like Alder, Comfrey, Bayberry etc, then edible vines which will grow up the trees and edible tree fungi, and then all the smaller fruit bushes, edible and healing herbs, things that spread like mint and GKH (like spinach) are useful for ground cover. Willow is useful for making things. I am finding this storyline very interesting and very much hope it is continued with. I wish I was 30 years younger! Have planted on a small scale a row of what will be standard size apples in a field, and two sweet chestnuts, and this year would like to plant hazels etc, but finding anywhere sheltered from the wind here is very difficult. I remember Adam(?) when he was thinking out the idea saying that they already had the apple trees growing as part of Natasha's business.
DeleteThat’s fascinating, Janice! (BTW, GKH is dual purpose, edibly speaking - its new shoots are ‘poor man’s asparagus’ and its leaves are ‘Lincolnshire lettuce’, or so I read.). From Pat’s ‘stately home’ reference last night, it sounds as if we are right about Bridge Farm’s version of an edible forest garden being a ‘big house’ kitchen garden without the walls and confined to fruiting trees and bushes plus herbs and similar plants. I can’t help thinking forest is a bit of an overstatement!
DeleteThe other thought that occurs to me is how to make it interesting to visitors all year round when fruiting is very much a seasonal thing. However, I recall visiting Heligan when the kitchen garden was in its abandoned state, with nothing happening, and that was still fascinating.
I’m really enjoying this activity-led storyline and hope it runs and runs, but we’ve heard so little about Bridge Farm’s other activities lately, that I fear not.
PS. Inevitably, this has conjured up memories of a country childhood - the only items sourced from the fields each year were blackberries (hedge blackberries so much richer in flavour than the bigger, peppier cultivated ones), mushrooms and crabapples. We could have gone for elderflowers/berries and rose hips but there were limits to my mother’s productivity. As children roaming the fields we also ate the new hawthorn shoots in the hedges.
DeleteHas anyone in Ambridge ever gone blackberring?
I found the earlier herbal ley storyline interesting too. We have detached animals too much from their natural feeding patterns. In the wild cows, horses etc would have browsed on nutritional and medicinal hawthorn and ash leaves. The first thing the rescue horses did when with us for a while was head for the ash trees and browse on the leaves, and older animals seem to naturally know that hawthorn is good for weaker hearts. I picture Bridge Farm as having all kinds of trees growing along the hedgerows, with an inner belt of Natasha's fruit trees, and then with Adam's kitchen garden within that perhaps it could be classed as a forest garden. I look forward to seeing the idea develop.
DeleteAh yes, I can picture a tall mixed hedge bordering the garden instead of the traditional brick walls, providing a windbreak as well as food. Good for wild life too, though encouraging rabbits and soft-fruit eating birds maybe not so good! It still says copse rather than forest to me, though I can see forest is better for marketing.
DeleteI’d be very happy to pay to visit it, sit awhile, learn something, buy some produce (shame it’s not samphire country!) and have coffee+cake in the tearoom .....
I cannot believe that Natasha ans Tom are so naïve as to be taken in by an obvious baby model scam. How come an agent just happened to be looking at an online veg box site for baby photos.
ReplyDeleteThis ‘you’ll have to pay for A portfolio of photos’ is a sure sign of trouble ahead and an illegitimate company.
Natasha is getting her credit card out again and I think it will all end in tears.
I dont think Pat was too keen on the idea either.
Even if it's not a scam, why put them on social media with all its risks and benefits for the rest of their lives, they may hate it later on.
DeleteRemember Susan's family photo?
Message to KPnuts: I published a reply to Miriam's question which has now disappeared. If it's on your administrator's blog, like before, would you be able to rescue it, please? If not, I'll have another go. Many thanks, ME.
ReplyDeleteFound & pasted 😁
DeleteTVM, KPnuts, hope not to have to bother you again!
DeleteKP / Maryellen
DeleteWas that MEs post - 2 /2/23 @ 8.37am ?
Just for clarity please.
My reply to Miriam beginning ‘Am having a sleepless night’ was published around 3am this morning and then disappeared from the blog. So I appealed to KP (who can see disappeared posts on her administrator’s blog) and she kindly rescued my post and pasted it after the posts it’s replying to, at 11.49am. The threads are interwoven.
DeleteMaryellen, have read it and thanks for the reply.
DeletePat and Tony expressed the same concerns as I had and Ruairi can go back to "uni" or Ireland.
ReplyDeletePlease may I add, "Or anywhere"
DeleteThe best thing for Ruairi would be to come back to Ambridge, make amends with his family and pay a visit to the vets, where he may bump into lovely Paul again.
ReplyDeleteRuari certainly needs to come home to Ambridge and perhaps with time and help he might be able to re align his moral compass.
ReplyDeleteHis father is at the moment looking intently at his own behaviour, perhaps they can make the journey together.
Remind me what was lovely about Paul - I’ve only got a dim memory of someone who was rather too full of himself. Good with animals of course.
DeleteMy thoughts are:-
DeleteRuairi returns to Ambridge, staying with Josh at The Stables House.
Paul sparked an interest in Ruairi, so much so Ruairi invited him to join him at The Hunt Ball - which he did. There seemed a spark between them at that time.
Ruairi is very mixed up, and so needs a bolthole to get his mind together, as to what his life means to him and why.
If Paul can help him, along with Josh + Ben, so much the better.
Ruairi still needs to understand what the Aldridge family, really mean to him.
My reference to lovely Paul was because he seemed to be quite a kind (not only to animals) young man, very understanding and ready to have a good time. He certainly seemed to make Ruairi happy during thé shortish time they spent together
DeleteArcherphile’s reply to my query about “lovely” reminds me I was going to comment on how lovely Justin has been recently in his kindness and understanding towards Lilian and her family, including the dreaded Mungo! I’ve always seen his kind side. Adam has been lovely too, with Brian at Home Farm, but try as she might Alice can’t get it right with Ruairi and probably never will. I think he should go to his family In Ireland while he sorts himself out.
DeleteMaryellen - a trip to his Irish family + roots, might just be what he needs.
DeleteThank you all so much, for the very interesting replies as to my query about the Edible Garden. I can see the thoughts and why, which has so helped me try to really understand this project..
ReplyDeleteIt is appreciated.
Stupid Alice, how didn't she know it was sex work, with a flat in Mayfair or wherever. Ruairi always wanted to be filthy rich and once he's tried the high life it'll be hard to give it up. Justin approved and implied he'd done the same.
ReplyDeleteI imagine Justin’s experience with an older woman might date back to the days when parents routinely sent their public school sons to Paris to be initiated into the art of sex by a mature and experienced woman. Maybe Oliver too.
DeleteSarnia commented on "Life in Ambridge"
Delete4 hours ago
As listeners we knew a lot more about Ruari's 'arrangements' and therefore understood the facts of the situation. In trying to piece together what little she had seen or been told, couldn't make sense of it, because it never occurred to her that Ruari would do such a thing. Some students join escort agencies in an effort to make ends meet; as Kate pointed out, Ruari is well-provided for by Brian, and didn't need the extra income. Partly driven by greed and partly by loneliness and inability to connect with his peers?
Kate couldn't sense of it.
ReplyDeleteMy post disappeared!
ReplyDeleteFound it and reposted.
DeleteThank you, KP. These 'search and rescue' operations are beginning to take up quite a lot of your time!
DeleteThat is to say, ALICE couldn't make sense of it!! Having a very slow day with head full of cobwebs. Please forgive.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Joy has finally wangled her way into the shop, it should have been her in the first place, it'll be fun to hear how she and Susan interact.
ReplyDeleteKate seems to think she can live on fresh air alone until she comes down to earth with a thud.
Quite right, David! I've got a lot of time for Joy too!
ReplyDeleteJust to add that I’ve got a lot of time for Susan too. I admire her for immediately admitting and apologising when she realises she is at fault. I think she and Joy are alike in their practical competence and commitment. I wouldn’t be surprised if, after this dodgy start, they get on like a house on fire!
DeleteOh my goodness! Kate is absolutely impossible! All that fuss over Spiritual home, forcing her parents to sell their precious home so she could keep Spiritual Home going. And now, at the drop of a hat she wants to sell it and start interfering with Stella’s running of the farm.
ReplyDeleteBest thing Kate could do would be to go back to South Africa and teach them how to reach Net Zero down there and catch up with Nolly and Sipho while she is about it.
Best for us. Not necessarily best for Nolly and Sipho, nor for South Africa.
DeleteBesides, how would she survive being so far from Phoebe? It was nearly the end of the world when she moved to that dreadfully remote place called Scotland.
My feelings too AP. Last week I thought Kate was maturing, I was wrong..
ReplyDeleteTotally with you Archerphile. I’d willingly give her a boot up the bum to help her on her way.
ReplyDeleteHave I lost the plot - was it not because of dear Kate and maintaining Spiritual Home land demand that Brian and Jenny had to sell their beloved Farm House now it and everything connected to it is just SO precious. She is in her 40’s now for goodness sake of course she will most likely crack soon and her real grief will surface, or she may obtain her goal by 2040 😉 we shall have to wait and see I will look forward to it Kate for my 93rd birthday 🤣😂 so be sure keep the blog going KP………!
ReplyDeletePosted my comment before reading others so I did remember correctly regarding the Farmhouse Sale debacle.
ReplyDeleteOnce Kate has run through the hedge gaps she may clear her head, hedge her bets or open a hedge fund, any more please?
ReplyDeleteIf she keeps the job to herself without delegating will she be a hedgehog?
DeleteIt'll be all or nothing - Kate never hedges!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteBut she might have a hedgerow with Stella! (Groan-y face)
DeleteClever lot 👏🏻😉
DeleteNobody in Kate's family or the local community has ever commented that (a) she forced her parents to sell their farmhouse, (b) forgot her children in South Africa, or (c) that Spiritual Homes was a vanity project heavily subsidised by Brian.
ReplyDeleteOn the contrary, we hear that (a) Brian - rightly - blames himself for the loss of the farmhouse , thought to be fair, renting pokey little Willow Cottage instead of buying a 4-bedroom Beechwood house was because Jennifer turned up her nose at living on an estate, and it seems the whole of Borsetshire has nothing better to offer, (b) Kate and Noli's relationship is close enough for Noli to confide in her mother and Kate prepare to rush to her side, and (c) Spiritual Homes is a thriving business, due to Kate's hard work.
I'm going with view of the characters on the spot. I've given up reading FB whenever Kate is mentioned because of the level of abuse - vitriolic is putting it mildly, and if some of the more extreme comments are supposed to be jokes, they are very sick ones.
I suppose it must make them feel better about themselves.
DeleteHopefully only about the characters and not the actors that would be a step too far!
DeleteI get it that this is the way that the SWs are portraying the differing reactions to bereavement so I'm tempering my reaction to the behaviour of Adam and Kate. Debbie is pretty much out of the picture where, realistically, she would have come over to be with the family and probably provided a voice of calm reason.
ReplyDelete✔️✔️✔️
DeleteThat's how I see/hear it also. To me it relates to the photo that Jennifer had kept of Kate, protesting up a tree!
DeleteGrief affects all in many different ways.
Kate wants to follow this mother earth image of herself that Jennifer so admired.
ReplyDeleteJakob asked her to be cautious and not to make rash decisions.
She accused Adam of leaving Brian and going over to Bridge Farm, I wasn't listening, so don't know why, but he and Brian didn't agree.
I thought he was going to run the pizza van with Ian, is that what Ian does for work?
Why did Phoebe go to Scotland?
If anyone has the time please fill the gaps for me.
Adam (I think) resigned from the farm after he and Brian had a big row about how it should be run. Brian refused to back his ideas . At first Adam went to work at another big farm estate but didn’t agree, ethically, with what the owner wanted to do with the place and left there too, looking for something else. Eventually he started helping out at Bridge Farm on a voluntary basis but now seems to work there full time. I don’t know if he is paid a salary or just takes a share of profits from what he does there.
DeleteIan was made redundant when when Grey Gables closed down. Going to work for another big venue or hotel would have meant moving away from Ambridge, so eventually he and Adam decided to set up a mobile pizza business providing unusual premium quality pizzas at events. After a dodgy start it seems to be doing well now.
Phoebe went to Scotland to manage a rewilding enterprise there after being head-hunted. She rather left Rex and Pip in the lurch with the Ambridge rewilding place but Rex now has Kirsty to help out.
We have heard nothing at all from Kirsty since she went to Scotland, as far as I can remember.
If anyone has different memories of these events please feel free to correct me, my accounts of things are often disputed!
Thank you Archerphile, strange that Phoebe left, especially that the rewilding fund was set up by Peggy.
DeleteIt was a better job and an exciting career move. She was finding Ambridge and the Project dull and dead end.
DeleteI think that as well as not seeing eye to eye with Brian regarding the running of the farm Adam also “borrowed “ about £10k from the Home Farm account to pay his electrician or similar. I am not sure if the rest of the family ever heard about this, I guess not or Kate would have flung it at him during the family mud slinging contests.
DeleteOh thank you KP. I had quite forgotten about Adam ‘borrowing’ that money from the farm! Brian was furious and said it was akin to stealing.
DeleteBy the way, I've found the rest of the bunting! Mr S had it stashed away in a cardboard box with the skeleton of his pet hamster. From the last coronation by the look of it.
ReplyDeleteYou mean the bunting missing from Ambridge?;)
DeleteObviously Jim didn't have all of it!
ReplyDeleteHarrison needs to know!
DeleteShan't mention the skeleton.
DeleteVery wise!
DeleteI just hope Stella, as the Manager of Home Farm, is as strong as she appears. She will also need a lot of tact and understanding.
ReplyDeleteI hope that the ordering of the new drill (or whatever it was) doesn't come back to bite her, so causing her demise in an awful way.
DeleteI thought Ruairi was going there for the money, which he will get, so not being exploited.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the way Julianne handled it, she got what she wanted and doesn't want any puppy love.
She told him as much last time, it's about time he grew up.
I thought that too, that he was just doing it for the money, but then realised the life he was missing, so seemed tempted again.
DeleteThank Goodness Alice arrived to put him straight.
Bang goes my theory that Julianne was a silent investor in Grey Gables!
Thank goodness Julianne has finally been exposed for the hard headed business woman with no heart that she really is. And bless Alice for following Ruairi when he found out about Julianne and sticking up for him. Hopefully this will help to bridge the chasm between brother and sister for once and all.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that Ruairi had earlier called Alice, Sis.
DeleteIt seems progress between them, is well on track, for him to say this.
Each time she called him Ruari referred to her as 'my sister', so he must think of himself as part of the family. All this self-imposed alienation is the grief talking.
DeleteWell done Alice & Freddie ⭐️⭐️
ReplyDeleteI love both these characters, and always have despite their past problems, when tempations became too strong took hold. I admire them both for overcoming these, and that they are now trying to lead normal and fulfilling lives.
DeleteI imagine others will disagree, but that's me! 😵
That's your generous nature, Miriam.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI've mellowed - which I put down to Covid and seeing, appreciating and understanding things in a very different ways.
DeleteIt has taken time though 😃
At the end of tonight’s episode it was announced as the writer being Liz John.
ReplyDeleteLizJohn - isn’t that a name from the past …….. Maryellen ?
The name rang a faint bell with me, Mrs P, so I googled it and discovered she is a professional writer and playwright, who joined the TA team in or about 2017. I came across a discussion on The Ambridge Reporter in which contributors were critical about her handling of the characters. 'Tin-eared ' was the expression used.
DeleteShe has also been part of the core writing team for Doctors, which I've never watched., so can't comment. I wasn't especially impressed by tonight's TA episode.
Ah ! Not the distant past then - just familiar.
DeleteI really enjoyed this latest TA episode with Iain, Adam, Alice and the children, doing what they did and why. It just touched my heart...🌹🌹
DeleteJust watched an episode of Father Brown on BBC iplayer, called The Sands of Time. I heard a very distinctive northern Irish accent and realised one of the characters was Ian ( Stephen Kennedy).
ReplyDeleteI think that the TA script writers are doing a great job. As time is going on after the very sad passing of Jennifer, the grief of all the family is now being shown in a gradual way. This is true to life in many ways.
ReplyDeleteRemember Lizzie after Nigel - she kept her true feelings surpressed until she needed couselling, many years later, as a type of PTSD.
What I am liking is some of the light-hearted interludes, such as Joy and the biscuits, Freddie with Uncle David in The Bull, Lizzie + David having a meal together...
Ambridge life is going on, but a reference to grief, is fine by me as it affects all so differently and the time it takes.
Yes, I feel that the different reactions have been carefully thought out with respect to each character's nature and relationship with Jennifer.
ReplyDeleteI get that grief affects people differently and the TA team are using Jennifer’s family to show the different effects and time scales it has - but at the same time, some of the behaviours we are witnessing have their roots long before Jennifer’s death. I’m thinking of Ruairi’s self-centred and unprincipled tendencies, first seen in his joy riding days with a disapproving but unable-to-do-anything-about- it Ben. In other words, it isn’t all down to grief. Though that may be an exacerbating factor.
ReplyDeleteRuairi's way of coping seems to be satisfying his sexual urges. First he tried it with Julianne while sober and failed, then when drunk attempted to force himself on Paul, but had to stop when overcome by violent vomiting.
DeleteAgreed, Maryellen, which is what I meant by taking into account the nature of each character. You've put it far more clearly.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the omnibus this morning showed the many characters in differing ways, far more so than I realised in the nightly episodes.
ReplyDeleteThere was grief:- Kate going OTT/hyper as to her farming abilities, Adam finally realising his loss, Ruairi going from bad, to good, to ugly..
The lynch pin at the moment, seems to be Alice, but I doubt that she can continue in the same way for much longer...
But there were also some lovely moments, with Freddie wanting more at LL, Lizzie + David enjoying time together, Joy in the shop with Susan actually apologising...
It was very well balanced, along with good writing and some wonderful acting, from particularly Adam, Kate, Alice, Julieanne + Ruairi.
I agrée Miriam, that the omnibus puts nightly episodes into a better context.
DeleteFor about 55 years I never listened to nightly/lunchtime episode and only kept up with TA via the Omnibus every Sunday.
But since I’ve had a little iPod, I have been able to listen to the daily episode in bed, before going to sleep. I still find it surprising how much I miss, or mishear daily that becomes clear in the omnibus.
Yes, Miriam, you often point out that individual episodes make more sense when heard in context with the others. I heard it this morning, but am usually at work, so rarely get the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteWhat does it say about the scriptwriters if individual episodes don’t make sense at a single listening?
ReplyDeleteI’m wondering how Noli’s visit will go down at Lower Loxley. She didn’t include Freddie in the relatives she mentioned. As far as we know, Kate and Elizabeth haven’t spoken since the magic mushroom episode on her last visit.m
I don't listen to the omnibus and from what I remember when I did is that they edit it to 75 mins or less, the 6 daily episodes total 78.
ReplyDeleteI'm not much interested in this prolonged grieving in many forms as it will not fade. I certainly won't listen to the funeral and afterwards. At Ruairi's age I lived alone with my younger sister. It didn't occur to me to exchange sexual favours for money, I had my student grant.
I understood that the money was paid in return for Rhuari accompanying Julieanne to her business networking events, helping her socialise, make conversation with the partners of other business people, and to generally "read" the crowd to pave the way for her. If acting as a personal assistant then I think it was quite right for him to be paid. I wouldn't class that as prostitution. I remember Julieanne saying something to him along the lines that sex was separate from the deal and presumably that was something they both wanted to do, although she obviously didn't expect him to become emotionally attached to her. Hopefully she may have learnt something from this.
DeleteI call it sex work/prostitution like both the actors who spoke about it on radio 4, you may call it sex work said 'Ruairi', or prostitution said 'Julianne' and I had said before that this is what it is to me. Ben said the same. R's response was that he really liked her, because he spent time with her, the fine line had been crossed.
DeleteI am very uncomfortable with the R storyline and often stop listening, though I think he is accurate in saying that J accepted him because she had to, ie to keep her marriage.
To me this is absurd fiction.
It does gradually fade, Basia, but only if you are able to face it and accept it, which is painful at the time and therefore not everyone's choice.
ReplyDeleteIgnoring or burying grief seems easier at the time but doesn't always work in the long term.
This observation is from professional as well as personal experience.
I would say that the pain of loss does indeed fade and is helped to do so if there is closure.
ReplyDeleteAll of the family were in close touch with Jennifer as they lived close by, with the exception of Ruari.
Ruari is suffering and will possibly continue to do so as he is acutely aware that he deliberately chose to stay away from home and to prioritise his time with Julianne instead.
I feel that his primary problem is his inability to process his guilt which he has verbalised but not yet internalised. Perhaps Ben or Alice will be able to help him in this.
Perhaps even Brian who seems to be very angry at the moment.
Brian did verbalise his guilt regarding his treatment of Jennifer throughout their marriage and I suspect is processing that guilt, hence the anger.
We will have to wait and see how the SWs will handle all of these emotions in each of the characters. At the moment they are doing very well in their explorations of a minefield within the Aldridge family in my opinion.
New thread started
ReplyDelete