Where There’s Brass, There’s Muck

In the glorious May of 1998, the governors of the Tanswold School Trust are looking forward to a new era in which they are about to build a new dining hall for their independent school. However, the unbridled optimism soon turns to despondency as they realise that the bursar has been doing DIY stock-broking with a very large bequest which has provided security for the school.

For the band of elderly socialites that form the governing body this is not just a disaster, but a scandal that attracts the attention of the fraud squad of the Middle Riding of Yorkshire Constabulary who open up a financial can of worms. And it’s not just financial; the appalling standard of hygiene in the school dining hall leads to a serious outbreak of food-poisoning with heart-breaking consequences.

The headmaster is placed under the spotlight and his management becomes more and more capricious as the spotlight is shone on him. The remaining part of the summer term becomes more and more of a comedy of errors as he loses his grip. As for speech day…

James Irvine was born and brought up in Cheshire. After graduating in Biology from Edinburgh University, he worked as a scientist both at Harwell and Bristol. He retrained as a Physics teacher at Sheffield University before working in a number of teaching posts, the last of which was as a Lecturer in Physics at Leeds City College. He retired in 2016.

James has written stories in his spare time, besides photography, wood turning, and model railways.

James is married to Helen, and has one son, Stephen. They live in North Yorkshire.