Teatime with The Archers
5 November 2009

A longer version of this article appears in the latest edition of the Ambridge Voice, the newspaper of the official fan club Archers Addicts



All loyal listeners know that tea is the lifeblood of The Archers. Tea brings people together, eases cold mornings for farmers, encourages confidences, soothes frayed nerves, and eases shock. In Ambridge, Teas are even a currency! You can understand then why we were so excited to discover this unique tablecloth that brings some wonderful Ambridge characters together around the table.

The tablecloth came to us from John Haddock who was a work colleague of the father of Lesley Saweard (Christine Barford). Back in 1954, Lesley arranged for 23 members of cast to sign a tablecloth supplied by John's mother, Marguerite.

Marguerite was an avid listener and she painstakingly embroidered over each signature in coloured silks, creating a truly unique item of Archers memorabilia. She treasured the cloth for many years before passing it to John who in turn kindly passed it onto Archers Addicts.

As most listeners know about the characters of Grace Archer and her father-in-law Dan, we decided to take a look at some of the more obscure characters that feature on this beautiful cloth.

Baroness (Brenda Dunrich)


According to The Book of The Archers, the "shapely, mysterious Baroness Czorva crept silently into Ambridge in the 1950s, told secret agent Mike Daly that he was expected elsewhere and together they crept out again". The most enigmatic character in Ambridge? We think so! cloth.

Widow Turvey (Courtney Hope)

Bob Arnold (Tom Forrest) and Courtney Hope (Widow Turvey)

Agatha Ermyntrude Turvey was an imposing widow who took a shine to Tom Forrest, much to Tom's embarrassment and the great amusement of all his pals. She once lured him to her house by stressing her concern at hearing an odd noise - it turned out to be a snail on the windowpane!

After Tom married Pru, Agatha embarked on a love-hate relationship with Walter Gabriel whose favourite hobby was to goad her. He once filled the field next to her garden with pigs, then began breeding maggots just to incite her wrath.

Mr Sprogett (Philip Garston-Jones)

Wilfred John Sprogett was an architect and became the proud president of the Borchester Ornithological Society in 1972. His eye for the birds meant he had less of an eye for the ladies, and Tom Forrest's attempts to pass Widow Turvey's affections to Wilfred proved unsuccessful; Tom even promised to show Wilfred a Montagu's Harrier if he would be nice to Agatha!

Sprogett's ornithological tendencies did prove useful when he spied an escaped convict through his binoculars. He remained a bachelor but he never lost his passion for bird watching; his cup ran over when part of Squire's woodland was turned into a bird sanctuary in 1954.

Long term listeners will know that Philip Garston-Jones returned to Ambridge as Jack Woolley, a character he played until the role was taken over by Arnold Peters in 1988.

Squire Lawson-Hope (Ronald Baddiley)

The Squire was a man of class and tradition, as shown by the family coat of arms carved above his fireplace. He enjoyed living the good life at the Manor with his wife Lettie, served by a housekeeper, butler and maid.

The Squire was a big employer in Ambridge and enjoyed maintaining the family estate. His only sadness was having no heir to inherit the fruits of his labours. When he died in 1954, the estate was split up and sold, giving Dan Archer the opportunity to invest in Brookfield.

The Squire would have approved of an Archer owning one of the farms, for an Archer fought alongside one of his ancestors in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo.

The Lawson-Hope memorial seat still stands on the village green.

Archers Addicts

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