Up and Down in the Dales
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Up and Down in the Dales for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
From the "Sunday Times" bestselling author Gervase Phinn comes a fourth book of reminiscences about life as a Yorkshire Dales school inspector that will continue to delight and charm fans across the globe. Life for the Gervase Phinn is about to become not unlike the rambling hills of the Dales themselves - up and down and all over the place. After a routine school inspection - and a rather brutal report - culminates with a teacher being forced into early retirement, Gervase is left feeling his year hasn't exactly begun on the right foot. Then the news that his local school is closing down, the accidental demolishment of an historical church (disguised as a disused barn in his backyard), and an injured knee which puts him into hospital. And still Gervase manages to gallantly retain his sense of humour throughout, making this a delightful, charming and thoroughly entertaining read.
About the Author
Gervase Phinn is now nationally recognised as a bestselling author, following the immense success of his books The Other Side of the Dale, Over Hill and Dale and Head Over Heels in the Dales, all of which have been top ten bestsellers. They have been read on Radio 4, sold a half a million copies in paperback, and television rights have now been sold to TigerAspect. He is married with four children and lives near Doncaster.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
67 of 71 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Gervase Phinn has been called the James Herriot of schools, or words to that effect. The similarity between their work goes beyond the simple fact that they both write about their lives working in the Yorkshire Dales. Like Herriot, Phinn's books are full of amusing, feel-good stories, larger-than-life characters and the occasional tear-jerking moment. You can be sure that everything generally turns out all right in the end, though, and the bad teacher or errant schoolchild sees the error of their ways and becomes a better person. Phinn even meets his wife during the course of his work and, like Herriot, they have a suitably chaste courtship until he finally proposes at the end of the second book.
The events in Phinn's books take place around 16 years ago, not during the 1940s. Yet the Dales life that Phinn writes about is not greatly different from Herriot's. Remove the odd reference to television and skiing holidays and you're left with a book that could have been written at any time in the last 50 years. Whilst this gives the books a timeless, escapist feel, it also means that they miss the opportunity to provide a real insight into the job of a schools inspector in the late 1980s.
But despite their faults, the books are a good read. They are well-written and the stories are amusing, if predictable. I would suggest that the publishers re-think the cover design for the next book in the series, though, as I nearly didn't buy this one. The title and cover of the book were so similar to the previous three, I thought that I already owned it!
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've heard Gervase Phinn on Radio 4 but had never read a word he'd written till I received this as a surprise birthday present. I read it in two days, laughing out loud for much of the time, and can't wait to catch up with the rest of the canon. It's a bit of a cliche to compare him with James Herriot but this particular cliche isn't too far wide of the mark. He writes with affection and humility and I marvel at how well he remembers events in such detail. Don't miss this!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was introducted to this book by my step-grandmother - she is an avid book reader like me. Being deaf myself, I love books passionately the same way as people love their music. Once I had read the second book in the series, I went out and bought all the three remaining books and I have just finished reading 'Up and Down in the Dales' half an hour ago - Wanting more, I have done an internet search on Gervase Phinn to see if there are any more books to follow - and I am very excited to get my hands on the next one in the series - There are very few books that make you laugh out aloud!! Thank you Gervase for writing the enjoyable books!!
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A good read
I have to admit to being a fan of Gervase Phinn. This book was just as enjyable as others I have read. Very klight easy reading.
Published 1 month ago by grannievon
Another Phinn classic
Gervase Phinn just keeps banging out excellent, funny books about his time travelling around the country, they always bring a smile to my face.
Published 2 months ago by bassdruid
BOOK REVIEW
Gervase Phinn was a school inspector in the dales of Yorkshire. Through out the book he copes with strange and awkward situations which he deals with well and with a good sense of... Read more
Published 17 months ago
Very funny
I enjoy all Gervaise Phinn's books written about his days as a school inspector, they make me laugh
Published 19 months ago by Denise
Tougher going than first three
For some reason, I found this book in the Dales series a little tougher-going than the previous three. Read more
Published 23 months ago by A. L. Rutter
A good read
Gervase Phinn's books always make me laugh. He is very down to earth as are many of the pupils in the schools that he visits. Read more
Published on 18 May 2010 by Adela Harris
An expert at work
Gervase at his usual best. A racounter who transports you to another and more hidden side of Dales life in the last century, as he introduces his readers to the real children and... Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2010 by K. C. Smith
excellent read
As with the previous three books this one is excellent. There are several laugh out loud stories all told with a great deal of warmth and affection. Highly recommended.
Published on 5 Dec 2009 by Goldencat
Brilliant
My wife and I had read the books as they came out but decided to buy the audio versions to listen to while we worked in the garden etc. Read more
Published on 9 Aug 2009 by Silver
Tales from the life of a Yorkshire schools inspector
Easy to read, lighthearted tales from the everyday life of a schools inspector. The area is rural Yorkshire. Read more
Published on 30 April 2009 by Mrs. B. C. Pennington
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
