Tophole!

Back to Switzerland this week, as we take a look at the 34th Chalet School book, Mary-Lou of the Chalet School.Transcript available at https://topholepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/s3e6-the-leader-of-the-gang/You can find Tophole on Facebook or email us at topholepodcast@gmail.com.

In which Hayley, Wendy and I conclude our discussion about which is better, Malory Towers or the Chalet School, and then I mop up the bits we didn't discuss and the things we got wrong!Transcript at https://topholepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/s3e5-brown-tunics-and-orange-ties-2/We'd love to hear from you! You can find Tophole on Facebook, or email us at topholepodcast@gmail.com.

They wear the same uniform, so what's the difference between the Chalet School and Malory Towers? Well...Episode transcript at https://topholepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/11/04/s3e4-brown-tunics-and-orange-ties-1/You can find Tophole on Facebook or email us at topholepodcast@gmail.comPart 2 in a fortnight!

Loads of spoilers in this consideration of EBD's first book, Gerry Goes to School, without which there would be no Chalet School... what an awful thought.Transcript available at https://topholepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/10/21/s3e3-back-to-the-very-beginning/You can find Tophole on Facebook or email us at topholepodcast@gmail.com.

In October 1925, a new school story arrived in bookshops: The School at the Chalet, by Elinor M Brent-Dyer. 100 years and 58 books later, here we are still talking about what she had created. Wendy and Hayley join in the conversation - as do several listeners, who shared what the Chalet School means to them.Transcript available at https://topholepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/10/07/s3e2-shall-we-make-the-uniform-more-artistic/You can find Tophole on Facebook or email us at topholepodcast@gmail.com.

New school year, new series - and we're starting with a cracker. Stand by for an explosive - and surprisingly musical - episode!The usual provisos apply with respect to pronunciation, spoilers and bonkersness. In particular, I use a very English pronunciation of the name 'Thekla' all through this episode - sorry not sorry. Transcript available at https://topholepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/09/23/s3e1-marie-loses-her-temper/I've created a Spotify playlist of (almost all) the music referenced in the book - it's called Exploits of the Chalet Girls. There are a couple of tunes missing and you'll need to go to YouTube for Ivor Novello's A Page's Road Song.There's still time to send us your thoughts on why the Chalet School is important to you - you can find Tophole on Facebook or email us at Topholepodcast@gmail.com.

It's a Wendy week - woo! - and we're having a discussion about aunties at the Chalet School. Transcript available at https://topholepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/07/22/s2e23-aunties/This is the last episode of season 2 - we'll be back towards the end of September. In the meantime, please do get in touch to let us know what the Chalet School means to you. You can find Tophole on Facebook or email us at topholepodcast@gmail.com. If you're happy for your voice to be included in our 100 Years of the Chalet School celebration episode in the autumn, please send a voice note.Have a lovely summer!

Kit and I went on holiday to the Austrian Tirol in May 2025. I didn't manage an audio diary, but here's my account - with a Chalet School slant on everything we saw, of course!If you listen to the very end, you'll hear the full recording I made from our hotel balcony: the church bells of Zell am Ziller again, and then some birdsong, and then the railway crossing bell, and eventually a train. Transcript and also photos at https://topholepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/06/24/s2e21-a-holiday-in-the-austrian-tirol/You can find Tophole on Facebook, or email us at topholepodcast@gmail.com.