In a time of limited resources, we've decided that it's best to focus our energies on the main Archers site.

Of course, on-air in The Archers, the Ambridge website goes from strength to strength, thanks to Jennifer and Lynda's continuing efforts.

We hope that you've enjoyed the items in this area. We will carry the occasional piece written 'in character', on the main Archers blog.

Nonetheless, it appears that certain residents are not so happy with this longstanding arrangement. Hilary Noakes of Grange Spinney has asked me to mention her petition to move the bonfire to a new (unspecified) location. She did tell me where the petition can be found, but I'm afraid it's slipped my mind at the moment. But I'm sure if you feel strongly on the issue you will track it down.

Sunday 9th October 2011

This year's Harvest Supper is once again held at Brookfield Farm (by kind permission of David and Ruth Archer)

Tasty Autumn food will be provided by the ladies of Ambridge WI, then we'll work it off with barn dancing under the auspices of caller Jolene Rogers. This is always a well-attended and most enjoyable event, at which all are welcome, whether churchgoers or not.

Tickets: adults £6, 5-16 yrs £1, under 5s free of charge.

Doors open at 7.30pm with food served from 8pm.

BYOB

Mutton chop whiskers, frock coats and bustles abound, as the stallholders wear period costume. Visitors are invited to follow suit and there’s a daily prize for the best visitor’s costume.

The swing boats and original Carousel are always popular. Children (and adults too0 can try their hand at traditional sideshows including Hoop-la and Coconut shy.

The less energetic can enjoy Displays include Thatching and other craft demonstrations, Punch and Judy, Morris dancing and Barbershop singing (check for times)

And what better way to visit a Victorian fair than by arriving on a steam train? Services run between Hollerton Junction and Upper Croft on the Blackberry Line. Break your journey at Downham station for a trip back to the Victorian era!

Come and see what the green-fingered villagers have been up to behind those hedges!

For a small fee, maps can be purchased from the Village Shop.

Cream teas availilable in some locations – all proceeds to the cause

Sunday and Monday 28 and 29 August

As a precautionary measure, if you have have any of the following products purchased in the last month, you should return the item to the retailer who supplied it and ask for a refund of the purchase price.

• Bridge Farm ice cream
• Bridge Farm yogurt
• Bridge Farm cream
• Borchester Blue cheese

Alternatively, you can bring it to Bridge Farm and we will refund the price directly to you.

Bridge Farm vegetables, and Tom Archer's Bridge Farm sausages and other meat products are not affected.

We apologise for any inconvienience which this precautionary measure may cause.

Small reward paid for information leading to his location.

Thank you, darlings.

Some time in the early hours of last Friday, the 24th of June, our three beloved llamas were callously abused in an act of mindless vandalism. A person - or probably persons - unknown stalked them and under cover of darkness painted the poor things with some sort of spray-on hair dye.

The dye is fading with repeated washings, but who knows what kind of long-term psychological trauma may have been inflicted on these trusting and loving creatures.

I appeal to anyone who might have information that would lead to the capture and punishment of these miscreants. Let us catch them - perhaps literally - red-handed.

If you can help, please get in touch with me at Ambridge Hall, or on reception at Grey Gables.

In fact, we at Home Farm will be taking it on. So if you were planning to attend make sure you come to the right place!

There'll be tours of the farm, talks about what we do and the chance to buy our home-grown strawberries and venison.

So do come along - and let's hope for decent weather!

Jennifer Aldridge
Home Farm

(Silly me - the date of the event was of course yesterday, 12 June, and not 12 July as I originally wrote. Anyway, I think I can say that a good time was had by all.)

The Garden Festival is based on the the idea of growing, cooking and eating your own produce. So of course there'll be lots of food to sample and eat (and drink, too - the strawberries and champagne tent sounds very enticing). Cooking displays will take place in their charming cruck barn, which will also act as a food hall.

There'll be stalls, advice and displays on all manner of gardening-related matters, and plants and seeds for sale. You may not know that Lower Loxley has a plot of allotments, which will be open for viewing - and allotmenteers (is that a word? I think it should be) will be selling their surplus produce.

Children will be catered for in more ways than just free food(!), with a bouncy castle and the steam-powered carousel that frequently graces events at Lower Loxley. And there will also be the chance to grow a grass head - sounds intriguing...

'Avid horsewoman Miranda Birdsall is used to taming stallions. But when she falls for local landowner Byron Ridgeway has she met her match?

Sounds like the perfect, undemanding summer read, and a great contrast to our last book, which was the rather more sedate Cranford.

The next meeting is at Home Farm on Wednesday 22 June.

In a thrilling father-versus-son Final, he beat Ambridge cricket team veteran Neil Carter with a tricky catch. I'm sure Susan can't have known who to cheer for.

With Kenton Archer compere-ing again, it was a rather different atmosphere from the regular weekly matches, but surely even the purists among us wouldn't begrudge this somewhat jazzier once-a-year event in Ambridge's cricket calendar.

[We should mention that Harry knows whereof he speaks, because he won last year's competition and will be defending the title on Monday!]

You might have heard that I’m entering the Single Wicket competition which is happening in Ambridge on the Bank Holiday Monday.

Anyway, you’ve probably never heard of a Single Wicket competition and I must admit I thought it probably meant like one set of stumps or something but that’s not it at all. So I thought I’d use todays’ blog post to explain how it works.

It’s a knockout competition and you play in pairs against each other. So you start with 16 players and lets say I’m drawn against Jazzer in the first round (except Jazzer isn’t playing, but never mind). So I bowl six balls to Jazzer and he scores what he can off them. Then we swap round and he bowls to me. And whoever gets the most runs goes on to the next round.

When we’ve had our go, another pair come into bat and bowl and Jazzer and me join the other fielders. Obviously if you’ve got 16 players, you’ve got a few spare because you only have 10 fielders including the wicket keeper, just like in a normal game of cricket, so the others can umpire or keep score or pad up or something.

Like I said, its a knockout, so by the end of the first round you’ve got 8 players and so on until you get to the 2 in the final. Hope I’m one of them!

Everyone says it’s a nice way to spend the afternoon and they make it like Twenty20 matches with music and commentary so its quite fun and entertaining. And it’s in memory of Alistair’s wife’s first husband. She’s Shula. You might know the riding stables at Ambridge? Well she runs that and the prize is the Mark Hebden trophy I think.

So if you want to support me come along and maybe I’ll see you on the day!

Your Friendly Milkman
Harry Mason