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Original poster

To wonder whether you'd prefer to go to Malory Towers or the Chalet School

999 replies

Vintagejazz · 29/04/2014 16:31

I just heard to girls about 11 years of age having an earnest discussion about this on the bus. I didn't think kids even read Chalet School books any more.
I think I'd opt for Malory Towers. They seemed to have more fun. I'd probably be expelled from the Chalet School for cursing, wearing lipstick and forgetting to speak German every Wednesday or whatever it was.

OP posts:
SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 09/05/2014 22:27

Toospotty - the one with Phoebe and her cello was Jo To The Rescue.

Weren't attacks of pain and sickness the symptoms of Joey's travelling organ? Though I suppose EBD is far too naice and delicate to say that her main symptom was a trail of wee wherever she went! Grin

NewYearDifferentName · 09/05/2014 23:26

I read from The School at the Chalet, probably because my older sisters had the books. At one time or another I had the entire collection in Armada paperback.

Have got one of their first badly proof read edition copies of Exploits which I'm currently transcribing (have already done Camp) and have gone through the list this evening and realised I wasn't quite correct in the ones I DON'T have. This is my missing list - though some will be being sent to my sister soon so it will go down again!

A United Chalet School
Highland Twins
Jo to the Rescue
Chalet School and Rosalie
Changes for the Chalet School
Chalet School Fete
Chalet School and Richenda (was sent a copy but it won't convert from Mobi to EPub!)
Joey and Co in Tirol
A Future Chalet Girl
Althea Joins the Chalet School

NotCitrus · 10/05/2014 00:03

My first was the Wrong Chalet School too! Confused me no end - and my next was Peggy which starts off with the Lady Acetylene Lampe, and got even more confusing.
Took 20 years to figure out that Peggy "raised her eyebrows widely" at Polly's question "Is Armishire in Wales?" because everyone was expected to know everything about geography on maps (climates of south America, etc), but I think some leeway really should be given for counties that don't actually bloody exist!

I suppose a prolapse could be described accurately as "misplaced an organ slightly", and the fact that Jo and friends all saw Sir Granville Wotsit no matter what their medical condition, could be explained if he were a gynaecologist.

Rescue is a wierd one, where Jo, Marie, and I think Frieda, Simone and Elisaveta all rent a holiday home together and we get EBD's guide to raising the under-sevens. And lots of patronising of the young Reg, who really should have been plotting murder during the rest of the books. Maybe that's what he wants Len for? :)

DeWee · 10/05/2014 00:11

I think A Chalet School fete is the 2nd half of Genius. It was split in 2 for the paper back. So if you have Genius in hb then you don't need Fete.
Ditto United Chalet school is the 2nd half of a New Chalet school.

The name change I find odd is Lavender Leigh at the Chalet School. It so obviously should have been called Lavender Laughs at the Chalet School, that I commented on it before I found that it had been originally called that. Why change it?

NewYearDifferentName · 10/05/2014 08:06

They split or changed the name of a few didn't they DeWee!! As well as Lavender Laughs/Leigh....

Gay Lambert was originally Gay from China (- and was released as part of a double paperback with Lavender Leigh/Laughs!)
The CS Goes To It became The CS at War
Urey Richardson : Chaletian became Ruey Richardson at the CS
The CS and the Lintons became 2 books in pb - Lintons and A Rebel
The New CS became The New CS and A United CS

Then there are books that were originally published as part of other books - A Mystery and Tom Tackles (in two parts) were part of the books 'The Chalet Book for Girls (and books 2&3)

  • The CS and Rosalie.

That's not taking into account the books written by other people to fill gaps in the series where, for whatever reason, EBD didn't write herself!

Llareggub · 10/05/2014 08:12

The Chalet School and Richenda was my first book and I remember using her name in a story I wrote at school. This is how my primary school teacher discovered our mutual love of the Chalet School. We both agreed we were definitely in the wrong school.

Whyamihere · 10/05/2014 08:31

When I was younger I was convinced my children would be called Josette, jonquil (not a pupil at CS but mentioned in one of them) and Wolfram!! I didn't use any of them though.

AllMimsyWereTheBorogroves · 10/05/2014 09:14

Weren't jonquils used as one of the patterns on the curtains between cubeys in one of the dormitories? I've always loved that word.

This thread is great! Must go off and tot up how many I have. Very few are hardbacks, though. What sort of things did Armada edit out?

SolidGoldBrass · 10/05/2014 09:22

As a rough estimate, Armada would cut them for length so sometimes they would seem completely bewildering (key chapter missing, for instance) bin some of the rehashing ( a lot of the later ones contain quite a lot of scenes of people discussing characters in previous books at some length) and bits of politics that EBD threw in which were probably seen as too confusing for modern readers.

Summerbreezing · 10/05/2014 10:54

Are the Armadas the only ones that were abridged? I've seen some affordable paperbacks on Abe Books from other publishers that I'd buy if I knew they were complete.

Toospotty · 10/05/2014 13:26

All the paperbacks are abridged, barring the recent GGBP editions. They're all Armada I think, just different covers. GGBP has a really useful list that explains how abridged the various books are. Reading the full version of a book you've read countless times abridged is glorious fun.

Summerbreezing · 10/05/2014 19:35

Thanks. Just had a look at the GGB website. There seems to be a small number that are uncut so I'll get those on Abe Books.

By the way does anyone know if you get an email from GGB saying an order is pending does that mean it's gone through? I think I might have accidentally bought Lavender Laughs twice, but thought I hadn't completed the transaction.

hels71 · 10/05/2014 20:26

You could just e mail them to check? They have always been very helpful when i have pressed things.....

Summerbreezing · 10/05/2014 21:19

I've emailed them twice and got no reply. Maybe if two copies arrive they'll let me swap one for a different one.

squoosh · 10/05/2014 21:20

They probably don't respond to emails. They only respond if you send a SAE and a postal order to the value of three shillings.

LittleBearPad · 10/05/2014 21:55

Ggbp is run by two female (and relatively elderly) vicars/lay preachers who seem to have lots of churchy/parochial responsibilities. I'm sure they will get back to you soon.

Summerbreezing · 10/05/2014 21:57

Tre Littlebear.

Grin Squoosh. I'm in Ireland. Should I send it in an air mail envelope?

hels71 · 10/05/2014 22:04

They will possibly not reply at the weekend.......wait till Monday...

flugella · 10/05/2014 23:48

Just reread Jo of the CS and am rather amused by the Robin's mother "dying in decline". Death could never be said to be an ascendant thing, could it??

squoosh · 10/05/2014 23:49

Summerbreezing maybe your 'creamy brogue' is making the email indecipherable to them!

Summerbreezing · 11/05/2014 10:29

Sure that could be it , so it could Squoosh! Begorrah agus top o' de mornin.

Summerbreezing · 11/05/2014 10:33

I've just read Changes at the Chalet School. I'd forgotten the irritating way the Triplets addressed their mother as Mamma. It sounds more like the 1850s than the 1950s. In RL they would have been slagged to death for that.

DeWee · 11/05/2014 10:48

She announces right from birth that they're going to call her mamma. And they (Len and Con anyway) seem to revel in being different, they go out of their way to tell people. When Ros starts at the CS she says something about "having her as your mum" and one of them says "we don't call her that, we call her mamma". In reality, I'm sure they would have been trying to hide it-Margo at any rate rebels against it, I'm sure at some point she's told off for calling her "mom".

To me it sounds babyish rather than historic, and I think it is another way Joey had of trying to prevent them (and her) from sounding like they were growing up.

Although, I remember "mummy" being regarded as babyish once junior age (8yo) and deliberately changing it to "mum" in imitation of the rest of my form. Dh had a similar tale about it.
Dd1 otoh is 13yo, and refused to change to "mum" when I suggested she might like to. To my surprise I've found that most of her friends (general comprehensive school) do still talk about "mummy and daddy".

PosyFossilsShoes · 11/05/2014 11:05

Yes, same here, stopped calling my mother Mummy when I was about 8 and changed it to Mum because those who still said "Mummy" got teased.

My father had a tebbly, tebbly posh friend in her 40s who referred to her parents as Mummy and Daddy and a grown woman saying it used to make me giggle.

Joey's boys seem to get a lot more leeway, in one of the books Joey says she knew as soon as they went to school (aged 7 or 8) they would ditch 'mamma' for 'mum' and is ok with that as long as the girls don't do it!

hels71 · 11/05/2014 11:09

I do have a bit of sympathy for Joey over what her children call her though. My DD is 6 and starting to try out mum rather than mummy and I really don't like it....I don't want her to grow up too fast! Isn't there somewhere in a book where Joey laments the triplets growing up and someone points out she still has loads of babies to trot after her saying mamma???