The Chalet School Books

[Ann]

As a child, I loved the "Chalet School" series of books by Elinor M Brent Dyer. I had no idea that the ones set in Austria were actually set in a real village at the side of a real lake, albeit with different names. Just last year I discovered not only the real names of the places, but also that they were no more than 30 miles or so from Oberaudorf!

Last week, when a friend who had also loved the series was staying with me, we made the pilgrimage to Jenbach (Spärtz in the books) and then caught the bus to Pertisau (Briesau) on the shore of Achensee (Tiernsee).

The lake itself is unbelievably picturesque. It's completely surrounded by mountains and there are villages scattered around it. Pertisau itself was a bit disappointing. It's clearly grown since Elinor M Brent Dyer went there in the 1920s and not for the better as it's now wall to wall hotels, guest houses, cafes and souvenir shops. The Tirolean version of a Mediterranean resort. It took a huge leap of the imagination to see it as it must have been nearly a 100 years ago. We did manage to pinpoint a couple of the buildings used in the books and we took a footpath round the lake to a spot known in the books as the dripping rock.

I wish I could post some of the pics I took, but sadly when I got back, it was to find that my camera had had a hissy fit and the only one that came out was that of the plaque dedicated to Elinor M Brent Dyer on the wall of the small library.

Any other Chalet School fans here?

[SaffiandJasmin]

Oh Yes! I read them all! ...I was into all that sort... Chalet, Mallory Towers, St Claires etc. Takes you back a bit, doesn't it?! x

[Ann]

Me too, but none of them caught my imagination like the Chalet School series. I think it was all the descriptions of places that weren't in the UK and that I'd never been to. Even though I'd grown out of them by then, when I was 18 I stayed with my German penfriend. Her mother arranged a lift down to Munich for us where we were going to stay in a Youth Hostel. I realised that Innsbruck wasn't THAT far away from Munich. I remembered it so well from the books and wanted to see it so badly that I talked my law-abiding penfriend into hitching there. I was absolutely spellbound when I saw it, I'd never seen a city where, whichever way you turned, there were mountains at the bottom of the street. I've been there since, but I'll never forget that first trip.

Renate's Mum, quite understandably, was furious when she found out what we'd done. I took the easy way out, I never got around to telling mine! (I never bothered to tell her we got locked out of the Youth Hostel in Munich when we arrived back a few minutes past the curfew and had to spend the night on a park bench either.)