I badly wanted to be Darrell Rivers from Malory Towers when I was a kiddie. She had it made – a stable family background, a gorgeous fairy-tale of a school, popular with her peers, respected by teachers, good at sports, and a talent for writing stories. Her one fault is a terrible temper, but even that only appears when she catches someone bullying or being unjust or spiteful. As role models go, she’s not a bad one to adopt. The thing I liked most about Malory Towers is that the school life depicted was very different to my London comprehensive education. They played lacrosse, had midnight feasts, rode horses, and lived at school. We played truant, stayed up past midnight, rode buses, and lived for home time. It was a world apart, really, which made Enid Blyton’s books so enchanting!
Malory TowersPublished: 1946 – 1951
Author: Enid Blyton
School fact one: In my school the make-shift temporary huts used for some lessons were a health hazard. You had to turn the lights on with a block of wood when it was raining as water ran down the wall!
School fact two: We thought the library at the top of the school was haunted.
School fact three: Any school trip to France ended up with teachers and pupils in a Benny Hill style chase around the ferry.
School fact four: The art room was my favourite place.
School fact five: I once climbed out the bathroom window to have a sneaky ciggie on the roof and the window accidentally closed behind me, leaving me stranded. Never again!
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