20/03/2023

Clarrie’s not liking the new window in the Bridge Farm dairy at all. Susan soothes her. They’ll get used to it and it will be good for business. She suggests they have a practice with the microphone, and poses Clarrie some sample questions. Clarrie gets flustered and can’t answer any of them. They swap places – Susan will show Clarrie how it’s done. However Susan doesn’t do much better at the hands of Clarrie’s questioning. Clarrie’s smug, but Susan reckons it’ll be fine when they’re doing it for real. Ruth and David have their hands full – a lamb’s had a dog bite, and Ben’s deserted his B&B duties in favour of visiting Sykesy. Things go from bad to worse when Ben returns to break the news there’s a disturbance at the entrance to the farm. It’s a demonstration against the EV charging station, led by Jim. The placards read ‘Stop the Brookfield car park’ and ‘Brookfield collusion concretes countryside’. David lays into Jim, while Ben tries in vain to mediate. David calls the police, who won’t attend unless they break the law. Jim maintains the protest is peaceful, and David notes they’re being careful not to trespass. Jim’s called the press. Ben suggests they let him have his publicity photo and then he’ll go, but David doesn’t want Brookfield’s name dragged through the mud. He moves a stack of bales between Jim’s protest spot and the farmhouse, ensuring the house is protected from view and Jim won’t get his picture. Jim promises David he hasn’t heard the last of this.