Most adults recall windswept playgrounds and chilly classrooms with a sense of nostalgic dread.
But for Birmingham children whose illnesses prevented them from going to mainstream schools, such conditions provided the ultimate cure.
Now two former pupils of Uffculme Open Air School in Moseley, where two-sided classrooms were exposed to sun and rain, have written a book about their school and five others founded in the early part of the century.
Mrs Pauline Saul and Mrs Frances Wilmot tracked down old pupils and staff of the school, whose memories are recorded in the book, A Breath of Fresh Air: Birmingham's Open Air Schools 1911-1970.
The authors decided to chronicle their days at Uffculme after they met at a reunion in 1989.
Children were constantly weighed by staff to check their health and the schools were seen as a tremendous success before modern cures such as pencillin and the creation of the welfare state.
Mrs Wilmot, aged 54, of Leamington, Warwickshire, who went to Uffculme in the 1950s suffering from bronchitis and asthma, admitted the regime could be harsh but she enjoyed herself.
'We were all very happy there, which is surprising considering how spartan the regime was,' she said.
Other children who went to Uffculme agreed. Mrs Diane Smith, who attended from 1949-1955, said: 'Looking back on my time at Uffculme as an asthmatic child, they were the happiest days of my school life. The teachers were so kind and everyone so friendly.'
Mr John Bonner, who stayed at Uffculme during 1932, said: 'I owe a lot to Uffculme and I was loathe to leave after a year at this wonderful place. I never had one day out of work in 50 years after that.'
Many former pupils remember the cold winters when they would have to rest in their beds outside the building, play sports whilst stripped to the waist and run without shoes to toughen their feet.
Miss Margaret Wales, deputy head between 1941 and 1958, said: 'When it was very cold we kept having breaks to exercise, jumping up and down outside or walking round the classrooms swinging our arms on our chests. Sometimes we could only use pencils as the ink froze.'
Former teacher Mrs Moira Armson remembered keeping an eye on the children during their compulsory rest periods.
'Rest time with the canvas beds was diabolical. As the shed was open to the wind, rain and snow it was a very damp place. In cold weather the teacher who was on duty sat on a deck chair with about three blankets, two hot water bottles and a pillow.
'Woe betide anyone who caused us to get up out of our warm snug blankets.'
Uffculme was founded in 1911 by Barrow and Geraldine Cadbury who donated it, along with Cropwood and Hunter's Hill schools, to the Birmingham Schools Medical Service. Their success led to the foundation of three other schools.
The Cadbury family continued to give their support and patronage, and one pupil remembered being treated to the family's famous chocolate at Christmas.
Others remembered the hardships. As well as up to two spoonfuls of cod liver oil a day, many children were academically and emotionally behind those who went to mainstream schools because of their condition.
Former nurse Mrs Kathleen Crosby saw hundreds of sick children at Uffculme between 1957 and 1965.
'Many suffered from general debility or were underweight, poorly, run down, often absent from school,' she said.
'There were also cases of nervous instability and malnutrition and children who didn't fit into ordinary schools because of things like chronic eczema.
'I enjoyed my time there and loved the children. If you treated them as though you loved them they responded.'
Four of the schools were located in rural Warwickshire and Worcestershire. It meant that children from poor districts in Birmingham, where the asthma rate was high, could enjoy a rural environment.
A Breath of Fresh Air is published by Phillimore & Co and costs pounds 30. Copies can be ordered by post from Mrs Frances Wilmot, 41 Helmsdale Road, Lillington, Leamington Spa, CV32 7DN, tel 01926 426597.
Cheques should be made payable to Open Air Publications.
