A former Her Majesty’s Inspector of Schools offers a personal memoir of long service inspecting elementary and village schools, recounting journeys through rural districts, practical routines of classroom examination, and encounters with teachers, managers, school boards and clergy. The narrative blends modest humour with professional observation on reporting, curriculum subjects such as singing, composition, natural history and needlework, and the peculiarities of local institutions and school libraries. Anecdotes reveal administrative tensions, inspector collegiality, and the strains of travel, culminating in accounts of later postings, an island visit, and eventual retirement from inspection work.