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Original poster

Retro school/ boarding school books- which were your favourites?

40 replies

tiggersneverdie · 07/04/2018 06:06

I am pleased to note that the Trebizon series is being published again- I loved those. I also loved the Peter High school books about a day school in the 90s by Jean Ure- anyone else remember them?

OP posts:
Papergirl1968 · 08/04/2018 00:05

The Chalet School. Loved them. Still do!
Liked Trebizon too, and Mallory Towers. Not so keen on St Clare’s.

OllyBJolly · 08/04/2018 00:12

the Four Marys in the Bunty and the books of Angela Brazil!

Mallory Towers was my favourite though

isittheholidaysyet · 08/04/2018 00:13

Chalet school
Trebizon
Antonia forest's kingscote.
I liked Malory towers and st Clare's back in the day, not so keen now, prefer the naughtiest girl's whyteleafe.

feska5 · 08/04/2018 00:19

Malory towers. I was intrigued by midnight feasts.

HarrietSchulenberg · 08/04/2018 00:33

Malory Towers, definitely. I quite liked my dad's old Billy Bunter books but even in the late 70s/early 80s the attitudes were jaw-dropping.

Labtest7 · 08/04/2018 21:16

Malory Towers. I quite liked the St Clare's books too, but much preferred Malory Towers. I wished I went there!

hels71 · 14/04/2018 08:57

Definitely the chalet school. However I also liked Jennings and the Billy Bunter books as well as Trebizon and Malory Towers. Was less keen on St Clares. I did not discover Antonia Forest until I was an adult but I really enjoy those!

burnoutbabe · 14/04/2018 09:01

I still have all my Trebizon books. They really have not dated at all.
Also love kingscote and Antonia forest and bought the new one (spring term) which is sold on amazon - not by af but in her style. Girls gone by publishing did it.
Chalet school was ace, though the only one I read is the controversial chalet girls grow up. Read that one at your own peril!

Imfinehowareyou · 14/04/2018 09:02

Mallory Towers and St Clare's. Also The Naughtiest Girl ones by Enid Blyton. Couldn't get over the court like system where the head girl and boy decided the punishments!

MinnieMousse · 14/04/2018 09:03

Yay, I loved Trebizon! The chalet school and Malory Towers were my favourites and I also likes Jennings (my DF has them all). I'm reading Malory Towers to my DDs at the moment. I think they're a bit young for Trebizon though - too many boyfriends.

Muddlingalongalone · 14/04/2018 09:08

Definitely Trebizon & Kingscote when I was older but loved Malory Towers & St Clare's & Naughtiest girl aged 6/7/8.

iklboo · 14/04/2018 09:20

Loved Trebizon books. Wonder if they're out for kindle.....?

RueDeWakening · 14/04/2018 09:24

Chalet School, I still have my complete collection of the Armada paperbacks stored safely on my bookshelf.

I only came across Trebizon at university when I was writing an essay about boarding schools in children's literature, but would quite like to read them all as an adult tbh!

And I liked the Drina Dances series, though only one of them is set in a (ballet) boarding school I think.

Witchend · 14/04/2018 12:50

Chalet School
Kingscote
Jennings
Bessy (not Billy) Bunter
Trebizon
Malory Towers
St Claire's
Naughtiest girl
A rather unusual one which starts with "Jenny and the Syndicate"
Susan Goes to School (by Jane Shaw I think)

practicallyperfectmummy · 14/04/2018 13:30

I loved Malory towers, really made me want to go to boarding school I even asked my parents but they said no ☹️

Sadik · 15/04/2018 17:31

Definitely Jennings - I dug them out again when dd was the right age and they're still hilarious read as an adult.

madvixen · 15/04/2018 17:35

I loved the Chalet School series, the Four Mary's in Bunty and Malory Towers. I've just seen that you can get Malory Towers as Kindle versions so that's my commuting read for tomorrow sorted 😂

BangingOn · 15/04/2018 17:39

Boarding school books are responsible for me boarding, I really thought it would be like Mallory Towers. It wasn’t, mostly because they had boys there, but I loved it.

IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere · 15/04/2018 17:39

The Chalet School - I still keep my eyes open in charity shops in the hopes of finding a hardback for my collection.

I liked the Malory Towers books as well and anything by Winifred Norling.

littlepill · 15/04/2018 17:46

The Naughtiest Girl In The School is just the most formidable story ever!

FourFriedChickensDryWhiteToast · 15/04/2018 17:50

Jennings
the Kingscote series
The Chalet School
St Clares and Malory towers

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 15/04/2018 17:54

The Chalet School - I’ve got all of them, and I do still reread them from time to time.

Flightywoman · 15/04/2018 18:13

Started on Blyton and Angela Brazil, AB's For The School Colours is a favourite!

I loved Trebizon - read them much later when my younger sisters had them.

I think being a school story is partly why Harry Potter was so successful.

bakingdemon · 15/04/2018 18:23

Malory Towers. I was at boarding a school and we once tried to stay up for a midnight feast in my dormitory and failed utterly. All asleep by 10!

llangennith · 15/04/2018 18:40

I’ve recently bought a set of Mallory Towers book for our school library after the two old books we had proved popular. They were written late 1940s. I explain to the girls that it’s before TV and mobile phones.