Cricket is also ideally suited to boarding-school life because it goes on for hours and soaks up whole afternoons

St Leonads, Wycombe Abbey, Rodean, Cheltenham, Sherborne School for Girls and Malvern Girls' College modelled themselves on boys' public schools: hence the cricket. Cricket is also ideally suited to boarding-school life because it goes on for hours and soaks up whole afternoons.

Y. Maxtone Graham, Terms and conditions: life in girls' boarding schools 1939 - 1979 (2016), 188

The acceptable home address was: name of large house; village it was quite near; county.

The acceptable home address was: name of large house; village it was quite near; county. It was not done to live at any kind of obscure urban address, such as 24 Whitfield road, Haslemere. Only one girl on the whole list did live at that kind of address and I pity her, because its stands out. If you did have an urban address it had to be a London one, and ideally Cadogan, Belgrave or Eaton something

Y. Maxtone Graham, Terms and conditions: life in girls' boarding schools 1939 - 1979 (2016), 125

There were only forty of us, and you could take your own pony

If you look at old photographs of such schools, the girls are smiling genuine giggly smiles of joy. Alexandra Etherington showed me photographs of her and her friends in kilts and blouses at Butterstone, near Dunkeld, in 1969, and I don't think I've ever seen such happy children.  'I can still name every girl in those photos,' said Alexandra, 'there were only forty of us, and you could take your own pony.'

Y. Maxtone Graham, Terms and conditions: like in girls' boarding schools 1939-1979 (2016), 93