Up and Down in the Dales
4 journalers for this copy...
Entertaining read.
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Taking to tonight's meet.
Taking to tonight's meet.
Journal Entry 3 by candy-is-dandy from Great Bardfield, Essex United Kingdom on Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Picked up at last night's bookcrossing meet at The Riverside Inn, Chelmsford for onward release. No idea where it has been for the last 6 months.
Journal Entry 4 by candy-is-dandy at CoffeeLink, Neptune Marina in Ipswich, Suffolk United Kingdom on Friday, December 11, 2009
Released 14 yrs ago (12/12/2009 UTC) at CoffeeLink, Neptune Marina in Ipswich, Suffolk United Kingdom
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
At the Ipswich bookcrossing meet. If not taken by another bookcrosser it will be left on the shelves on the first floor.
At the Ipswich bookcrossing meet. If not taken by another bookcrosser it will be left on the shelves on the first floor.
I picked this up at the Ipswich meet-up this morning.
In 15 years of teaching I have identified an unwritten rule that every school staffroom has to have at least one avid Gervase Phinn fan. In that time I have never read one of his books although I have read the occasional article or short story in the Times Educational Supplement.
I found this, the fourth in his Dales series, to be much as I expected. There were plenty of humorous anecdotes about Phinn's encounters with children and teachers in the course of his work as a school inspector. I was slightly surprised though that some of the depictions of teachers, and Phinn's colleagues in the Education Authority, were rather cutting. Not in a nasty way perhaps, but certainly painting some characters in a less than flattering light. No doubt the names of people and schools have been changed but I am sure that Phinn's peers would have had relatively little difficulty in identifying, or at least having shrewd guesses about the identity of, the people depicted; especially in the case of the County staff.
There was also plenty of Phinn's own life story in the book and this was perhaps the most interesting part of the book. Although it was interesting to see that little has changed in the world of education from the time that Phinn was writing about compared to some of my own experiences as a teacher.
While this book has not made me an avid fan, I would certainly read more of Phinn's books should they cross my path.
I found this, the fourth in his Dales series, to be much as I expected. There were plenty of humorous anecdotes about Phinn's encounters with children and teachers in the course of his work as a school inspector. I was slightly surprised though that some of the depictions of teachers, and Phinn's colleagues in the Education Authority, were rather cutting. Not in a nasty way perhaps, but certainly painting some characters in a less than flattering light. No doubt the names of people and schools have been changed but I am sure that Phinn's peers would have had relatively little difficulty in identifying, or at least having shrewd guesses about the identity of, the people depicted; especially in the case of the County staff.
There was also plenty of Phinn's own life story in the book and this was perhaps the most interesting part of the book. Although it was interesting to see that little has changed in the world of education from the time that Phinn was writing about compared to some of my own experiences as a teacher.
While this book has not made me an avid fan, I would certainly read more of Phinn's books should they cross my path.
Taken along to my local book group and picked up by a fellow member. Hopefully a new recruit to bookcrossing.
A lovely collection of anecdotal tales written by a former schools inspector in the Yorkshire Dales. Full of gentle humour, I definately wanted to read more about this man's life.
Blythspirit returned this book to me as she didn't feel she would be able to find a suitable release location. So I have released it for her in Ipswich.