to think all UK schools would be better off being Chalet Schools?

[quirrelquarrel]

French, German, English days- hikes up the hills- Kaffe und Küchen- Prees and Joeys and Mary Lous rounding up the miscreants.....would it be impossible, do you think?

Wonder if there is a school like this left!

Ah well when Joey went to India she had only been growing her hair for a year or two. It won't have been long enough to be the MASSIVE earphones she sports in her later years.

I think I may have spent too much time with the CS books!

And all the children, waifs, strays and singing that surrounded her in a veritable cloud. She'd be pretty conspicuous.

Oh yes, I'd forgotten Joey went to India. Actually, how on earth did she fit that in, was it before she married? Hard to imagine somehow.

I loved the CS books and wanted to go there - in fact, about 10 years ago, DH, DC and I went to Switzerland on holiday and I insisted we went to Lauterbrunnen and tried to work out which was the Gornetz Platz! I got quite excited in Interlaken, imagining them all trooping off to the dentist....speaking of which, didn't they have a lot of extractions? There was always someone having a tooth taken out by Doktor Frankius.

Also a fan here! Have a few stashed away in my un-unpacked books in the garage.

When discussing names with DH, I suggested Annis (as in Island fame? I think!) and he absolutely fell about and asked how long did I think a child named Anus would last at school?

It's called Hockerill Anglo-European College and exists in Bishop's Stortford, although they do take them up the Alps regularly.

I actually did a brief pilgrimage to the Tiernsee last summer. A moving moment.

I think Joey went to India before she got married.

And she must have been very good at fitting things in - 11 children, lots of other kids living with them as well, dropping into the school every other day to chat to the teachers & pupils - and still finds time to be a best selling childrens author!

OAM2009 - I never considered that Annis could be mispronounced like that! DS is lucky he's a boy

But she had the faithful Anna and the co-ajwatsit, that must have helped.

Joey lived in India with her parents and sister, but they died and money was short, so they had to move over to Europe and set up a school to make ends meet. Joey was the first pupil, of course.

I was toying with the idea of writing a sequel to the Chalet School books - do you think anyone would want to buy this?

Joey was living in England at the beginning of the first Chalet School book.

And if you search on Amazon there are lots of fill-in Chalet School books published, and at least one unofficial sequel, so there must be some sort of market for more.

The Coadjutor, I believe?

Yes, she must have gone to India before she got married, between The New CS and The CS in Exile. I am pretty sure the Robin went too as there are rumours that EBD wrote an account of their trip that she never published for some reason and is now lost.

My DDs went to Knickerbocker School mentioned upthread, and they do go to Switzerland for a fortnight before they leave, in order to prepare them for Boarding School.

They only have their school uniform and walking boots supplied by the school, march off to the airport via tube and DLR and have a very jolly time, walking having barbeques and diving in Lake Geneva.

Phone calls are rationed, they do chores like making their beds and sweeping the corridors and posted tuck is shared out.

My DDs still talk about it.

this explains Joey visiting India

Sorry, xpost with mooncup

There's a debate in one of the girls gone by books about the timing of Joey's trip to India. Joey is head girl finishing summer term - call that year 1. Year two Louise Redfield is head girl and Joey is around all year. Call that Year two. Louise is followed by Hilary Burn as HG and Gillian declare she will be leaving at Christmas. Then 'Exile' begins in the Spring term - but it can't be that Spring term following because there's no time for the India trip or the death of Mrs Linton and a vist from Elisaveta which is referred to in later books. Therefore Joey goes to India in 'year 3' and Exile begins half way through Year 4. Of course that creates another problem. The triplets birth occurs in November. Joey and Jack marry in the summer following the escape from Austria - so 4 years after Joey leaves school. The triplets are born not that November (obviously) but the year following - November 1939. That makes Joey 21 going on 22 when the triplets are born. As a side issue going by the dates of the books though she should be 27 - born 1912 and 13 in November 1925 during the second book. Elsewhere in the books I'm sure she describes herself as nearly 21 not 22 when the trips arrived. Going by her being 22 in 1939 that makes Madge 34 that year. The triplets are 10 or 11 when Madge's twins arrive - making her 45-46 at that point. I'm sure something's wrong with the ages of Peggy and Rix too but tbh you can drive yourself crazy looking at EBD's timescales - she just isn't very exact.

Oh dear - x posted with everybody!

I love the way Joey does a complete turn around in the space of one chapter - from not being the marrying kind to the arms of Jack Maynard.

I had a huge crush on Jack Maynard in my younger days.

Ah thank you for that informative link Miss Annersley!

Apart from the war years the dates don't work at all - the last book was published in I think 1969 when the triplets would have been 30, but in the books they're only 18 as EBD wrote a book for each term since about Three Go, but only published one or two books a year.

As for Sapphic - Nancy Wilmot and Kathy Ferrars. Definitely a couple

Remember Bill (shades of Tom Gay) saying how much Hilda means to her? In the interval mid 'Exile' Bill and Charlie are staying together in a wee cottage.

Yes, though doesn't Charlie marry?

Partly I think the issue is just that the males in the series have absolutely zero character (all the doctors are basically the same person, and Jo, Madge and Dick must have a dozen sons between them but after the ritual birth announcement they are barely ever mentioned). So any sort of emotional engagement has to be between girls and women.

I read a really interesting article somewhere, expounding the theory that Bill was desperately, but secretly, in love with Dr Jem.

Blimey, Abbess. What evidence did they give for that?

Oh, there was loads of stuff empress . One I particularly remember was when her hair had turned white ( in Exile or Chalet School Goes to War?) when Dr Jem compliments Bill on the 'poudre' effect of the white hair and dark eyebrows.

According to the author of the article the way she reacted, something along the lines of 'what are you like?' ( but obviously couched in Chalet School terms) revealed a deep seated 'pash'.

I'll see if I can find it. I can't sleep at the moment.