New Home for the Chalet School

[Vintagejazz]

Welome everyone. Dormy lists on the board as usual and I know you are all hoping like mad that you are all not in the same dormitory as Mary Lou. But only some of you can be the un lucky ones and the rest of us will have to make do with each other.

Oh, and the good news is that Joey has sabotaged discovered something wrong with the roof on her house and believe it or not, the only property available to rent is right next door to the school.

Shit Hurrah, lucky us.

Got to go. Matey wants me for unpacking.

My dsis was at uni in Leeds and the book shop near her had a full set of CS.

We brought the lot. She has the whole set. That was 1978...

I brought most of mine from
Waterstones in brum around 1992.

I feel old now.

First set was mine in 1950s. Second set DD's in 1980s. Third set for DGDs in 20teens. Oh dear.

Rue I have loads of those but also reunion in a hard back as dsis knicked it from Leeds Library.

In our defence we were a tad tiddly.

Emily 3 generations of chalet girls!

Rue good grief you never know

^Was that the old peppery lady from the train with the big family moving to Howells village.

If so she's a Rebecca and That's a nice name.^

Yes - and naturally because she is working class they immediately know she drinks her tea strong.

I'm v envious of the three generations of Chalet girls. My first CS book was a (new) gift from a great-aunt who is now dead (would have been born late 1920s) and I wish I'd known whether she'd enjoyed them too or if the book was just a random choice from Smith's. My mother read Blyton as a child, tends to lump all school stories in together as being offensively Blyton-ish, and raised me mainly on more wholesome stuff. EB and EBD were my contraband books. :( This is probably why I am so keen to emphasise the distance between EB and 'proper' school story writers, sometimes - I don't really like seeing the CS tarred with that brush.

Ugh, italics fail. My lambs we have nearly filled another thread!

I'm a Chalet girl courtesy of my granny and great-granny - Granny has a shelf of hardback Chalet Schools dating from the early 30s to approx 1955. The earliest ones were Great-Granny's, and the later ones Granny's (she was born in 1940). I helped myself to Rivals at an early age - think I might have been about 8 - and the rest is history. Granny bought us lots of the Armada ones for birthdays in the 90s.

Nell yes loved the tea thing. Miss wilson shuddered at its blackness. definatly think your aunt was a CS girl.

Too that's lovely to think of them enjoying CS as it came out and how differently we see the books to how they did.

But clearly all enjoying them.

EDB created a whole world with her books and that's rare as series like St Claire's are just the school scenes and that's it. And no wierd next door old girls!!

My favourite CS books are set outside the school as in Joey goes to the oberland.

The first ones I read were from my big sister's school library-all Armadas. I've never read the big explosion in Exploits as it had those pages missing.

I got lots of mine at Waterstones in New Street too! I also have a great aunt just like TooImmature's granny.

You're not all my DSises and DCousins are you? That would make the plots of Adrienne and Two Sams look rather more believable

My collection has developed in a rather haphazard fashion. I think I found the first four or so at the library, and tried them because I was keen on Enid Blyton's school stories (plus my Grandma's true ones!),then a random selection of others would sporadically appear. Got given a bunch by my old childminder when she had a clear-out, and then a few more by a friend. I used to save up my 50p pocket money to buy Armada paperbacks when they were £2.99 each!

Then the collection stagnated a bit until I discovered the GGBP reprints, but at £12 a pop I couldn't afford many as an impoverished student. Since graduating and starting earning I splash out more frequently, but there are still quite a few I haven't got yet. The collection is a complete mix of all the different styles of paperbacks, it's very unco-ordinated but I buy them for the stories, not to make a nice display!

I am just furious that I gave the books away twice.
Come to think of it my uniform was brown and flame, DD's was gentian (ish) blue and eldest DGD (who has just started secondary school) has black and red. Don't think EBD would have thought that very suitable for nicely brought-up gels.

990 posts!

the bit in Joey and Co in Tirol where she writes to Madge that her extra weight brought the ceiling down - Josette writes back to describe Madge's reaction and says that her mother is only a few pounds above 10 stone, even now! If that's chubby, God knows how Joey would describe me! Madge is average height, isn't she?

Yes that bit too where Madge then cancels the holiday she had planned with her family in Tyrol to go on a weight reducing course.

How nasty would that be and wouldn't Jem have been furious with Joey for upsetting Madge that much?

From house ends to skinigallies EDB was a tad weight obsessed.

And go go brummie CS girls.

Mind you she didn't like birmingham.

When they are going on an expedition to Cadburys, in Bride I think, they eat their lunch as they near the city as there's not much nice to look at

Also the 2 hitch hikers who are attacked by the young Maynard's and Richardsons are two guileless youths from Birmingham

Serve them right then.

"From house ends to skinnigallies" - what a fabulous expression, thebody. Can't wait to contrive some way of using it.
Question is, would EBD count it as forbidden slang, or charming dialect spoken by the twins?

If Joey used it my lamb it would be how wonderful that Mrs Maynard still contrives to be very much of a school girl both in language and ways.

Anyone else it's a lecture and fine.

I think Madge might even be described as 'tall' - I only (semi-)remember this because in my mind she is quite small in a kind of delicate way and the idea that she is tall throws me off. Such a mean thing to say though. And to Madge of all people!

You're not all my DSises and DCousins are you? That would make the plots of Adrienne and Two Sams look rather more believable
No but I names all three of my dc after you (first AND middle names) and have appointed you guardian and unofficial godmother despite never having met you.

DeWee

My lamb if you do inherit children feel free to change their names or shorten them without their agreement won't you. Jolly good.

It is appalling that Charles has had "don't worry your mother" dinned into him so hard that even with appendicitis he does everything he can to keep quiet. Poor little boy! He's crying with pain but still won't ask Len to get Joey. She should be ashamed of herself - and so should Jack!

Ha! I was the proud mamma of two (singletons, unfortunately) by the time that programme aired on mastermind. Does that make me the oldest swinger in town?

The timing of the trip to Cadburys always puzzled me. Don't they leave at the crack of dawn and take about 7 hours to get there? Then they have a full day, which I think ends with tea, and a couple of hours on the motor coach sees them safely back at the house. I don't have the book with me to check the details, but I do remember trying to work it out and not being able to make the times fit.

Strangely, my fave five and the ones I know most about aren't quite the same. If I were going on Mastermind I think it would have to be:

School at
Camp
Exile
Shocks
Barbara

They're the ones I know best. My favourites would be more like:

School at
Rivals
New House
Island
Problem