WITH so much splendid countryside in Sussex it’s a surprise more physical education teachers don’t take their students for a jog on the South Downs.

That prospect would inspire some pupils but strike fear into the hearts of others, depending on how much they relish exercise in the great outdoors.

We’re sure some of our readers will have conflicting feelings on the matter as they remember back to their own school days.

This journalist loathed rugby lessons at 9am on a muddy field – maybe a ramble on the downs would have been a little less dread-inducing.

We don’t know exactly where in the country these boys were snapped in the 1930s.

If you can identify any relatives in our big picture, or even if you recognise the rural spot, please let us know.

Elsewhere, a more conventional setting for exercise is pictured – a school’s grounds.

What was your favourite form of athletics, if any? The hurdles? Long jump? 100 metres?

All of them are in evidence in the snaps above.

The nice thing about these pictures is the good natured contest on show.

Pupils watch on with interest as various students take on different challenges.

There is an atmosphere of supportiveness but also competitiveness. It’s the taking part that counts but winning is a great sensation nonetheless.

Having attended an all-boys school this writer can testify that beneath all the banter and bonhomie there is a steely edge in most teenage males.

When it came to inter-class sports day, friendship was put aside for the sake of the sport; winning was what mattered.

Perhaps a jog in the downs would put things in perspective.