The Archers: the Ambridge chronicles. Part 1, Family ties, 1951-1967

322 Pages·1998·9.44 MB·English

by  Joanna Toye

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‘Now we’ve all got our glasses filled,’ began Dan
importantly, ‘here’s a toast to the coming year and
may we all go on being as happy and united a family
as we’ve been up to now, and’ - he paused for effect -
‘may the weather be a bit kinder to all farmers.’
So began the year 1951 for the Archer family at
Brookfield farm in Borsetshire - Dan, Doris and their
grown-up children, Jack, Philip and Christine. But the
farm would be the least of Dan and Doris’s worries over
the years to come as they watched their children make
their way in the world.
Phil, after a long courtship, finally married Grace,
daughter of the local landowner, George Fairbrother -
but the marriage was destined to end in tragedy.
Christine certainly had no trouble in attracting men,
but finding the right one was another matter. And
when she finally married, would she ever be able to
have the child she so desperately wanted?
Jack, married to Londoner Peggy, had two daughters,
Jennifer and Lilian, and a son, Tony. But Jack’s chosen
career of running The Bull would prove a disaster for a
man with a weakness for drink. And young Jennifer’s
pregnancy by a father she refused to name would shock
the whole family.
No wonder Doris was often heard to ask Dan: ‘Do you
think we’ll ever stop worrying about them?’
Family Ties, covering the years 1951 to 1967, is the
first in a three-volume saga telling the story of the
Archers of Ambridge. Part Two will be published in
September 1999 and Part Three in September 2000,
bringing the story of The Archers, Britain’s longest-
running radio drama, right into the next millennium.
The Archers 1951-1967: Family Ties is also available
on audio cassette from the BBC Radio Collection.
THE A M B R I D G E C H R O N I C L E S
THE A M B R I D G E C H R O N I C L E S
PART ONE
Fami l y Ties
J OANNA TOYE
In memory of Godfrey Baseley - and all that followed.
This book is published to accompany
the BBC Radio 4 serial entitled The Archers.
The Editor of The Archers is Vanessa Whitburn.
Published by BB C Worldwide Ltd,
Woodlands, 80 Wood Lane, LondonW12 OTT
First published 1998
Copyright© JoannaToye 1998
The moral right of the author has been asserted
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
in any form or by any means, without the permission in
writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may
quote brief passages in a review.
ISBN 0 563 38397 6
Designed by Tim Higgins
Text set in Adobe Plantin and New Caledonia Semi Bold Italic
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Butler & Tanner Ltd, Frome and London
Jacket printed by
Lawrence Allen Ltd, Weston-super-Mare
Contents
Archers Family Tree 6
Acknowledgements 8
1 New Beginnings 9
2 Secrets and Surprises 27
3 Difficult Decisions 45
4 Betrayal 61
5 Resolution 79
6 Missing the Moment 97
7 To Have and to Hold 117
8 Living and Loving 139
9 A Shot in the Dark 153
10 Moving On 171
11 Rescue 185
12 A Tale of Two Marriages 201
13 Family Life 217
14 The Other Woman 235
15 Changing Times 253
16 The Young Generation 271
17 The Way Forward 285
18 A New Life 301
T h e A r c h e r s
John Archer m Phoebe
r -----------------
John Benjamin (Ben) m Simone Delamain Frank m Laura Wilson Daniel m Doris
27.5.1898-2.8.1972 1900-1929 1.6.1900 - 29.8.1911- 15.10.1896 - 11.7.191
30.5.1957 14.2.1985 23.4.1986 27.10.19:
John (Jack) m Margaret (Peggy) Perkins* Philip Walter m (1) Grace Fairbrother
17.12.1922-12.1.1972 b. 13.11.1922 b. 23.4.1928 | 2.4.1929-22.9.1955
m (2) Jill Patterson
I b. 3.10.1930
Jennifer m (1) Roger Lilian m (1) Lester Nicholson Anthony W
b. 7.1.1945 Travers-Macy b. 8.7.1947 | 7.6.1946-8.3.1970 Daniel (Tor
b. 9.3.1944 m (2) Ralph Bellamy b. 16.2.195:
div. Feb 1976 26.2.1925-18.1.1980
Adam Deborah James Rodney Dominic
b. 22.6.1967 b. 24.12.1970 b. 30.3.1973
(by Paddy Redmond)
m (2) Brian Aldridge b. 20.11.1943 John Daniel
31.12.1975-25.2.195
Katherine Victoria Alice Margaret
(Kate) b.29.9.1988
b.30.9.1977
*Peggy married Jack Woolley 1.1.1991
F a m i 1 T r e e
William Forrest m Lisa
---------------- 1
Edward George (Ted) Thomas William (Tom) b. 20.10.1910
10.1.1902-17.1.1920 m
Prudence Harris (Pru) b. 27.7.1921
I
Christine m (1) Paul Johnson
b. 21.12.1931 I 10.1.1931-10.5.1978
it Lewis Shula Mary Kenton Edward David Thomas Elizabeth —Peter (adopted)
10.1.1952 b. 8.8.1958 b. 8.8.1958 b. 18.9.1959 b. 21.4.1967 b. 5.9.1965
m m m m
Mark Hebden Melanie Hardiment Ruth Pritchard Nigel Pargetter
20.2.1955- b. 12.2.1972 b. 16.6.1968 b. 8.6.1959
17.2.1994
1 I
Philippa Rose (Pip) m p>) George Barford
Daniel Mark Archer
Helen b. 17.2.1993 b.24.10.1928
b. 14.11.1994
b. 16.4.1979
— Thomas
b. 25.2.1981 Joshua Matthew
(Josh)
b. 13.9.1997
Acknowledgements
The Archers
No book about can ever truly be the work of one person.
Over the years so many dedicated writers, performers and produc­
tion staff have moulded the programme’s character and characters.
It would have been impossible to write this book without the
The Archers
support of the Editor of , Vanessa Whitburn and her
Archers'
team, especially Archivist Camilla Fisher. At BBC World­
wide, Nicky Copeland and Lara Speicher have been nothing but
encouraging, but I owe the biggest debt of gratitude to Heather
Holden-Brown who originally commissioned the three-book saga. I
became a regular visitor to the BBC Written Archives at Caversham,
where Neil Somerville and James Codd helped me in researching
past script material by Edward J. Mason, Geoffrey Webb, Bruno
Milna, John Keir Cross and David Turner.
Although I had access to the scripts and did in some cases draw on
them, I also had licence to invent, and my hope is that the reader will
not be able to see the joins - or want to look for them. For those who
The Archers
listened in the 1950s, I hope that the book recreates of
memory. For newer listeners, I hope that reading about those dark,
post-war days will illuminate what they are hearing today.
Joanna Toye
September 1998
8
New Beginnings
‘Will this be enough, do you think, Chris?5
Christine laid down the last of the already spotless cake forks,
which her mother had nonetheless insisted that she polish. The
chintz curtains were drawn tight against the sharp December after­
noon and the cutlery glimmered gently in the glow of the logs in the
grate and the gas jets on the wall. She looked up. Doris Archer was
holding out an enormous willow-patterned platter. On it were
arranged overlapping slices of roast beef, home-cured ham (one of
her husband Dan’s prized Large Whites, killed at Martinmas) and
cold, pressed tongue. There were rumours that the meat ration was
to be reduced at the end of January, but in the countryside, and
especially the countryside at Christmas, you would have been
forgiven for thinking there was no rationing at all.
‘Just remind me how many we’ll be tonight, Mum? Twenty,
was it?’
‘No, just our Jack and Peggy, you and Philip ... ’ Her mother
broke off. ‘You’re teasing me, aren’t you?’
Chris jumped up, took the platter and squeezed it on to the
dining-room table between a dish of piccalilli and the pork pie with
its glistening crust. No-one could make hot-water-crust pastry or
pickles like Doris Archer, as her several certificates from the
Women’s Institute and Ambridge Flower and Produce Show proved.
Then Chris turned and wrapped her mother in a fierce and impul­
sive hug.
‘Can you blame me?’ she smiled. ‘Of course there’ll be enough.
Have you ever known anyone leave Brookfield hungry?’
9