I’ve never liked Martyn Gibson – I still haven’t forgiven him for the hoops that he made Kathy jump through when she was running the golf club; making her life a misery with impossible deadlines and demands. Bearing in mind that Kathy is far from my favourite person in Ambridge, you will appreciate that for me to sympathise with her illustrates exactly what a slimeball Gibson is.
Actually, the entire Board of Directors of Borsetshire Land is totally dysfunctional and they exhibit all the camaraderie and fellowship of a bagful of ferrets. On Monday, Justin is up early, going through all the paperwork concerning work done by Philip Moss’s company. This was prompted by a text from Martyn Gibson, telling Justin to expect a call from him later in the day.
Justin tells Lilian that he fully expects that he is not going to like what his fellow directors will have to say, which shows just how well he knows Martyn Gibson, who probably got a Phd in schadenfreude. Lilian bangs on about collective responsibility, but Justin is under no illusions about how the Board will react. “I was the one who dealt with Philip Moss – the buck stops with me” he tells her. Sure enough, Martyn calls and says that he has contacted all the other board members and they are in total agreement – the situation, he says, is not looking good and they need to show their suppliers and customers that they are taking the situation seriously. If even one supplier links Berrow Farm with worker exploitation, Martyn continues, it could be disastrous – BL needs to make a big gesture.
Justin points out that no allegations have been levelled at BL; they are against Philip Moss, but it is all to no avail, as Justin has been firmly cast in the role of scapegoat and the BL directors are deserting him quicker than the proverbial rats on the proverbial sinking ship. He points out, surprisingly mildly to my mind, that all decisions were examined and ratified by the Board, but this cuts no ice and Martyn says that awarding jobs to Philip could be regarded as “wilful ignorance”. Whatever, Martyn says that, if Justin does not resign his position over Berrow, the whole enterprise could come crashing down. Lilian is furious, especially when Justin says that he will voluntarily resign, and adds that he would have reacted in exactly the same way as did Martyn. If she was angry before, she becomes almost apoplectic when Justin says that the Board feels that Brian would be a more suitable figurehead for both Berrow and the Rewilding project. “What? The polluter of the Am!” she screams.
The unmasking of Philip as a slave gangmaster seems to have affected many in the village, with people saying what a nice, helpful guy he was, and who can believe it? David, whose barn Philip and his lads refurbished as a wedding venue, and for whom they installed a new milking parlour, is taking it extremely badly, telling Rooooth that what they ought to do is tear the place down and why didn’t David notice how low Philip’s ‘mate’s rates’ were? How could they not see that the prices were too low to be genuine? The answer to that would appear to be that they were delighted to get such a cheap price and, as for the workers being slaves, neither David nor Rooooth ever spoke one word to the labourers all the time they were working on the farm.
Rooooth says that Philip has not actually been convicted of anything yet, so why don’t they just wait a while and see what happens? No doubt she is also thinking that ‘at least we got a good job done on the cheap’ and is keeping an eye on David in case he starts destroying anything.
Kirsty goes to see Lynda in order to tell her the truth about the explosion at Grey Gables and how it wasn’t really Blake’s fault, as it couldn’t have been him who bought the petrol that caused the explosion, as Blake was never paid any money. “That poor, young man” says Lynda, kindly. Kirsty relates how, after being arrested, she spent the night in a cell and was released – under investigation – the next morning. The memory is too much for Kirsty, and she dissolves in tears.
Of all the people who were affected by Philip, you would think that Lynda would harbour the biggest grudge, but she is surprisingly calm about the whole affair. In fact, as she and Robert are celebrating the view after climbing Lakey Hill (another landmark achievement on her convalescence for Lynda) she tells her husband (who has been chuntering on about why didn’t he see Philip for the monster he is) to let it go - dismiss Philip from his mind and enjoy life.
Robert goes off to watch a group of Redwings (I don’t know the exact collective noun) and, when he returns, he tells Lynda, cheerfully, what a nice experience it was “and Philip Moss was banished from my mind” he adds. “Good.” Says his wife; “Don’t let him back in.” Lynda then muses about how wonderful it was that the community supported her MBE nomination, and how she’d like to give something back to them and celebrate the village community. She doesn’t know exactly what yet, “but it will have to be something spectacular – after all, I shall soon be Lynda Snell MBE; great things will be expected.” As long as it isn’t another dramatic extravaganza, I don’t really care – how about a vow of perpetual silence, or am I being heartless?
The Philip Moss affair seems to be bringing out the worst in our Police; in particular D.C. Tanners (she was the one who arrested Kirsty). Having done that, and enquiring about David’s ‘mates’ rates’, she turns her attention to Neil. Having refused his offer of tea and biscuits, she gets down to business – as Chairman of the Parish Council, how closely did he scrutinise the prices submitted by Philip for tendering for jobs? Did he not think that they were artificially low? Did Neil never wonder how Philip could afford his lifestyle on the prices that he was quoting for jobs? The answers to these questions are ‘not very closely’, ‘no; I thought he was doing it as a favour’ and ‘see my previous answer’.
Surely a more pertinent question would have been ‘did you never wonder how Mr. Moss could have afforded to buy the millions of Christmas lights that made his house visible from outer space, plus paying the small fortune needed every week to pay for the electricity?’ Neil left the meeting feeling very bruised and, as he told Robert Snell, whom he met on his journey homeward, “I felt that she suspected me, rather than Philip - I don’t think she really believed me.”
Kirsty is living at Roy’s house, as she cannot bear to return to the Beechwood house; also, the police are all over it at the moment. Helen returns from some time away (with Lee and the children) and tells Roy that she is concerned – Helen’s phone keeps going to voicemail. Roy says he’ll have a word with her, and he arranges for the two girls to meet up.
Kirsty is upset because she always thought that she would be able to spot a con-man from a mile away (she was the only one who sussed out that Helen’s husband Rob was a wrong’un), but she ended up marrying one. For her part, Helen says that, with her experience of Rob, she should have noticed, and the two girls make up. Helen asks Kirsty if she is OK living at Roy’s – does she want to move in with them at Bridge Farm? Living with Helen and the boys might be OK, but Pat and Tony as well? Fortunately, Kirsty retains her sanity and turns the offer down.
Helen asks if Kirsty needs help to clear her stuff from the house? Kirsty says ‘yes please’ but they realise that this is the elephant in the room – talking about the house, is Helen still interested in buying it? It becomes apparent that Helen’s enthusiasm has cooled somewhat, plus you have to wonder what Kirsty would think, should the purchase go ahead – imagine if Helen bought it and then invited Kirsty round for tea. I suspect that visits would be infrequent, to say the least. Ah well, back to the Estate Agent, Kirsty.
Every so often, there is a story that seems to have been shoehorned in to fill up space, and the latest one appears to be the ‘renewing our vows’ story of Eddie and Clarrie Grundy. Ignoring the question that ‘Why would you spend 40 years married to Eddie?’ or even ‘Why would you have married Eddie in the first place?’ we have Emma teasing her mother about bridesmaids and hen nights. Emma asks where would Clarrie like to go for a second honeymoon? The answer is “we can’t afford one” but, when pressed, she answers “Paris”. Emma says that that gives her an idea, so we have to wonder whether or not we are looking at a meal in the tea room of frogs’ legs (imagine Eddie’s look of horror), Coq au Vin (no Eddie – it’s a chicken, honest) and a gateau (no; it’s not a cat).
Let us finish on (for a change) a religious note. Alan, the vicar, has noticed the atmosphere of despondency and bewilderment that has enveloped Ambridge, post Philip. He tells Shula that he is planning a virtual service and puts out a ‘come and join us’ call on social media. It proves quite popular, and the theme of Alan’s service is ‘forgiveness.’
He tells his virtual congregation that there are 136,000 enslaved and exploited people in the UK, and begs his audience to remember them in their prayers. Then, very much going out on a limb, he adds; “Let’s pray too for those who exploit them; may they repent of their sins.”
Speaking to Alan afterwards, Shula says that it was a bold move, but he was inspiring, although some people might have reservations about his views on forgiveness. “Do you mean that some sins are easier to forgive than others?” Alan asks. Just then, with the impeccable timing of the Archers, Shula’s phone rings. It’s Philip. Shula doesn’t answer, and lets him ring off - but he’s sure to ring back; should she answer if he does? Alan is less than helpful, as he answers “I can’t tell you that – it’s something you’ve got to decide for yourself.” Thanks a span, vicar – you’re a great help.
No comments:
Post a Comment