There seems to be a lot more cold weather than hot weather at the Chalet School, probably because they'd've been on school holidays during the hottest months of the year, but I think my favourite "long hot summer" book is And Jo. All that bathing in a nice cool lake, and the trip to Oberammergau, and wandering around with red parasols. So much nicer than having to keep your blazer on whilst you climb a hill in the heat in Theodora!

What other long hot summery bits are there? It's hot and sunny in New, when the Mystic M kidnap Sybil, but no-one seems to enjoy that summer very much. And Jo is definitely the one that stands out for me.

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When the seniors go to see the tzigane band in New House. I know there's the drama of Matron Besley trying to stop them, but being out of school listening music and probably enjoying a cold drink sounds very relaxing.

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"I -- I didn't think!" -- Carola Johnstone

In School At Grizel and Jo going down to sweltering Innsbruck in cool white tennis dresses. Knee-length in those days of course!

There's the bit in 'Gay' where Miss Bubb wants to send Gay to bed as punishment, and is stopped by Dr Jack, who makes Miss Bubb send Gay to a secluded part of the grounds to sit by herself instead.

Doesn't Miss Bubb also object to the girls sitting about in the grounds, making the place look like Hampstead Heath as well? I don't have the book to hand, but that I'm fairly sure she says something along those lines.

Yes, I'd forgotten that . Like Hampstead Heath on a Bank Holiday. There's a right outbreak of snobbery in that book!

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We really must stop eating like this ...

Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open.

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I can't remember which book it's in, but I rather like the fact that at some point the hot weather is under discussion and Emerence says something like "Are you sure you don't mean it's as hot as Hell - that's the only place I can think of that's as hot as this!"

It's also exceptionally hot on the day of the Kate Greenaway Sale in Summer Term, and those dressed as male characters are regretting the weight and extent of their costumes in comparison with those dressed as females (though Kate Greenaway did draw 18th century scenes as well as early 19th century, so not all the 'sprig muslin' that these seem to be).

In Switzerland they moved the finishing branch from Das Haus Unter die Kiefern to the Platz as it was so hot under the trees that the girls were ‘limp’. Not really an enjoyable hot weather scene though.

Emerence is comes from Sydney, so she would be exposed to higher temperatures.

On that matter, I think EBD confused the seasons in the southern hemisphere - she has Emerence lighting a fire during the winter months (assumed, as she starts at the Chalet School in September), and claiming there was a drought. I know that Sydney has wetter summers and dryish winters (I live on the other side of the continent, which has a Mediterranean climate), but I don't think a fire in the middle of winter would be such a serious matter.

My younger grandson told me the other day that he felt "hotter than a kiln - and that's THOUSANDS of degrees!"

Only vague memories because I don't very often read the books featuring Jack Lambert but in one of the books Jack Lambert is dressed in a sunsuit in boiling hot weather and Len takes her over to Freudesheim to have a shower and also supplies her with fresh clothes if I remember rightly. Could even have been the last book.

Joey and the triplets don't do well when staying at the Maynard family home "Pretty Maids" as the weather is too relaxing for them. This could be mentioned in Rescue when Bob, Jack's brother, dies.

Edited to add - Neither are particularly "nice" examples of hot weather but that is maybe because I prefer warm and sunny to hot and sunny and sometimes not even sunny!

Love that!

Kenya is the first summer they are in Switzerland when they sit outside a lot. And go to Lake Thun. Always got jealous of that. In Coming of Age, Tom and co. go to Lake Thun and walk down the mountain to Interlaken. They meet Miss Bubb at some point then too.

It's in Jane. Jack is then told to sit under a tree and Jane comes over and they have their massive reconciliation.

It's not, as they say, the heat. It's the humidity that will kill you.

It's just as hot in Sydney sometimes as it was in Hong Kong, but HK was much more humid and I would literally bring different clothes to work to change into and even have a quick wipedown with wet cloths in a toilet cubicle before changing.

Does seem a bit unfair that Jack gets the special treatment of a visit to Freudesheim and shower when, I'm sure, all the girls were feeling just as bad.

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It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how - Dr Seuss

I can confirm the long, hot summers are a thing and would much rather be at the lake right now! And Jo also has many of my favourite summer scenes and New House.

If I recall correctly, the school did have showers, so they were available to all the girls.

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Carpe diem, carpe noctem, carpe pecuniam et exe, celerrime.
A certain edge when she spoke of Mrs Maynard, certainly, but, after all, not everyone could love Joey.
'Life,' said Marvin, 'don't talk to me about life!'

I seem to remember in Jane that Jack has taken off her sun top. It's highly unlikely that she would lie topless - isn't she about 14? So I am imagining that Matey made them wear vests even in 'the great heats' of summer!

Possibly sundress had a bib top like a pinafore dress, with a jacket, and she's taken off the jacket

My elderly great-aunt (in her late 80s now) confided in me the other day that, as a concession to the heatwave, she had that day decided to forgo the vest she usually wears. But only because it was particularly hot that day, she hastened to add, as if afraid I might be scandalised, she always wears the vest as a general rule, even in the summer...

So yes, I can well imagine that the CS girls might have normally worn vests even in the summer months!

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"Real life is an illusion, albeit a very persistent one" ~ Albert Einstein

They have to wear school blazers when boiling hot from exercise to avoid getting chilled, so I can't imagine going without undershirts (I think that's what a vest is?)

I will admit I'm having trouble imagining pleasant summer activities at the moment - it's 36 and 70% humidity, and we've got another 3 months of this to go, minimum. I was at a summer meeting in Germany a few years ago during a heat wave - 38 during the day, no A/C, but at least the humidity was low and it cooled off at night.

There are a couple of mentions of showers in the school, but the girls don't seem to use them regularly. The morning bath is cold and a quick splash, and hair-washing is specially scheduled. A quick cool-off shower is lovely in the summer - that's the first thing I do when I get home from work - but probably not practical for 400+ girls.

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I am pretty sure we wore vests all year round until we got to the age for more grown-up underwear. At no time though do I remember having nothing on top under blouse, dress etc. We were north of Scotland though, not Switzerland!