Other Side of the Dale
Take a trip to the country with Gervase Phinn's heartwarming tales of life as a school inspector in Yorkshire
'Gervase Phinn's memoirs have made him a hero in school staff-rooms' Daily Telegraph
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As the newly appointed County Inspector of Schools in North Yorkshire, Gervase Phinn reveals in this warm and wonderfully humorous account, the experiences of his first year in the job - and what an education it was!
He quickly learns that he must slow his pace and appreciate the beautiful countryside - 'Are tha'comin' in then, mester, or are tha' stoppin' out theer all day admirin' t'view?'
He encounters some larger-than-life characters, from farmers and lords of the manor to teaching nuns and eccentric caretakers.
And, best of all, he discovers the delightful and enchanting qualities of the Dales children, including the small boy, who, when told he's not very talkative, answers: 'If I've got owt to say I says it, and if I've got owt to ask I asks it.'
With his keen ear for the absurd and sharp eye for the ludicrous, Gervase Phinn's stories in The Other Side of the Dale will not fail to make you weep with laughter.
Gervase Phinn is a teacher, freelance lecturer, author, poet, school inspector, educational consultant and visiting professor of education - but none of these is more important than his family.
For fourteen years he taught in a range of schools, then acted as General Advisor for Language Development in Rotherham before moving on to North Yorkshire, where he spent ten years as a school inspector - time that has provided so much source material for his books. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an Honorary Fello of St John's College, York.
Gervase lives with his family in Doncaster.