The Grange at High Force

Darnley Mills #2

by Philip Turner, William Papas (Illustrator)

Much of the story takes place on the moors above the fictional town of Darnley Mills, over the course of a year, from one spring to the next, covering the period of the Admiral's tenancy at Folly Grange. The focus is particularly on the joint activities of the three boys and the men at the Grange. As in the first book, there is also an historically-based mystery to be solved.

Genres: Adventure, Childrens

223 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Philip William Turner is an English author best known for his children's books set in the fictional town of Darnley Mills (1964–1977). Under the pen name Stephen Chance he is known for the Reverend Septimus Treloar mystery fiction series (1971–1979).

For his second novel and second Darnley Mills book, The Grange at High Force, he won the 1965 Carnegie Medal in Literature from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject.

Born in British Columbia, Canada on 3 December 1925 to English parents from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, Philip Turner was brought to England in 1926. He was educated at Hinckley Grammar School in Leicestershire and spent many school holidays exploring the East Anglian fens whilst staying with his grandparents.

He served his National Service from 1943 to 1946 as a Sub-Lieutenant Mechanical Engineer in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He then resumed his education at Worcester College, Oxford, whence he graduated in 1949. He married Margaret Diana Samson in 1950 with whom he had two sons and a daughter.

He began writing religious pieces in the mid-1950s and also wrote several books for young adults under the name Stephen Chance. The first Septimus book, The Danedyke Mystery (1971), was adapted for television in 1979.

Philip and Margaret lived in West Malvern for 30 years until his death from cancer in January 2006. He is buried at St. Mathias Church, Malvern Link.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, Phillip Turner was awarded the 1965 Carnegie Medal for his novel The Grange at High Force. And indeed, Turner's textual sense of geographic place (for the Yorkshire Moors) is nicely, authentically developed, and the intergenerational friendship between Peter Beckford, Arthur Ramsgill, David Hughes (three young teenagers) and Admiral Sir John Beauchamp-Troubridge and "Guns" Kelly (the admirals "man") feels realistically believable (and never strange or in any manner inappropriate). However and for me this is a pretty large and major however, with regard to in particular the presented themes and the specific contents of The Grange at High Force, both my adult self and my inner child have come away from our perusal feeling majorly bored and also more than a bit frustrated.

Sure, there are all kinds of adventures to be had in The Grange at High Force and also a mystery to be solved by Peter, Arthur, David and their adult friends. But well, how The Grange at High Force basically features mostly just male characters (both young and old), that the primary female character to be encountered in The Grange at High Force, that Miss Cadell-Twitten, that the "Twitter" is basically being described by Phillip Turner as eccentric, as overly excitable, as strange and also as someone rather ridiculously and almost pathologically into birds, and yes, that all of her words, that all of Miss Cadell-Twitten's communication in The Grange at High Force feel and read as loud, obnoxious, as a bit under-educated and often even bordering on the hysterical, well, this makes me feel textually nauseated and also rather majorly annoyed, as there definitely (and in my humble opinion) does seem to permeate a distinct aura of male, of gender based superiority and exclusivity in The Grange at High Force, which is both tedious and also reading joy and pleasure lowering for me, and with Phillip Turner's textual emphasis in The Grange at High Force on bikes, boats, gunpowder and ballistics, this not being all that much appreciated by me either and once again too oriented towards primarily a male readership (with both my inner child and my adult self agreeing regarding our generally rather negative textual reaction and definitely thus making me only consider two stars for The Grange at High Force, Turner's Carnegie Medal designation quite notwithstanding).

And no, I will probably also not be reading any more of Phillip Turner's Darnley Mills series either, as The Grange at High Force (which is the second of nine stories) was and is more than enough for me and that books one and books three to nine will more than likely be as exclusively and boringly boys-oriented as The Grange at High Force has been, but I do wonder a bit if Darnley Mills novels four to nine (which are historical fiction, whilst the first three novels are contemporary for the 1960s) might actually be a a bit more interesting.

[^ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book, second-hand, on a quick browse of the pages and the name of the publisher (Oxford University Press). I cannot now believe that I hadn’t previously so much as heard of Philip Turner. I’d barely read the chapter headings before I knew for certain that here in my hands I had an absolute gem of a book. Set in the uplands of England, I found myself visualising the action (of which to say there is plenty would be an understatement) taking place in and around Morpeth, Northumberland. Or maybe Helmsley, North Yorkshire?

I’ve not been disappointed. This book sits fair and square amongst the absolute best of the ‘Golden Age’ of British children’s’ fiction. It’s a book that will appeal to any youngster with a real, live, committed sense of adventure, responsibility, an interest in engineering, friendship and great fun. This is the type of book that breeds achievers. It is emphatically NOT a book for the ‘politically correct’ classes; but that’s nobody’s but their loss. Tough on them. Having said that, there are places where a responsible parent will want to discuss with their offspring, about how newer technologies have changed how life is lived today in small rural communities and towns. This is also a book for the discerning and confident reader, not the beginner. It’s a great story to read aloud.

The characterisation stands out clearly. Shot throughout the text is the most wonderful sense of humour which, if and where not spotted by a child, will undoubtedly be recognised and enjoyed by an adult. The illustrations by William Papas (South African, b. 1927, d. 2000) are exquisitely aptly observed, wonderful, humorous studies of character; here not dissimilar to Quentin Blake’s style. My particularly favourite is the dramatically funny, movement-filled drawing of a cycling accident in progress (Ch.2, on page 16). It would just look so great on a T-shirt! Landed thus in the brambles, Peter complains. “Oh very funny, I always roost like this. I’m a sloth. Get me out, you great clod!”(p.17). How very British!


P.S. Just for the record, the chapter headings (wonderfully evocative) are: “A Niche for Arthur”, “Cannon at High Force”, “The Guns of H.M.S. ‘Artemis’ ”, “The Lady in the Niche”, “Change of Command”, “Where’s the Lady?”, “Gunpowder and Corn-plasters”, “Sir Joshua’s Journal”, “Augustus”, “Saint Francis and the Yellow Peril”, “Here Lies the Body of Gothic Adams”, “Seven Witches”, “ ‘Sink the Bismark’ ”, “The Great Snow-storm”, “Beckford’s Patent Bomb Wiggle”, “ Gothic Adam's Secret”, “Two-Gun Salute”].

[David Allen Hines · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second of Philp Turner's 1960s series about the life of a few young boys in a small isolated English town in the years after World War II. I so enjoyed these books as a boy that I thought I would re-read them as a mid-life adult, and I am glad I did because they are simply wonderful. Now truth be told, in this age of cellphones and computers, I am not sure that boys of today could relate to the boys in this book, who spend much of their lives outdoors, having adventures, building things and immersed with their church and small town life with a great sense of history. Or, like me years ago, would a modern boy wish he was one of these boys? In this story, the boys pal up with a retired English Admiral who has taken up residence in an isolated old manor house while restoring an old cannon. They seek to find an ancient religious statue taken down from their church and lost in the late 1700s, but the admiral's eccentric landlady might hold the secret to finding the old statue. The boys and the admiral restore an old neglected ancient church. When a huge snowstorm strikes, the boys rise to the occasion, saving a family farm and saving the eccentric landlady, who helps them solve the mystery of the statue. In the end, the admiral sails off, but the old manor house and ancient chapel are saved. This is such a nice story even if it takes place in the time before computers and cellphones, and includes a lot of English phrases perhaps unfamiliar to the American reader (but strangely enough, Google and a cellphone make quick work of figuring out the English words and phrases!).

It's a shame The Grange at High Force is out of print, but if you manage to find a copy and love a classic boys adventure story you will much enjoy this award-winning book, as well as its predecessor. Col. Shepperton's Clock. Much recommended.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book I loved as a kid.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Grange at High Force won the 1965 Carnegie Medal and, although it's distinctly of its era, it is still a very satisfying and entertaining read more than fifty years on. Set in an unnamed northern town, almost certainly somewhere in the North York Moors from the dialect and topography, it tells the story of three boys and their quest to find a missing church statue. Although its world of grammar schools, church choirs, retired admirals and childhood freedom to roam has long since disappeared from the pages of children's literature, the liveliness of the story, the fast moving plot and the underlying wry humour, as well as some wonderfully written passages ( the description of the glow of firelight on the walls of an old Manor House in the moors, the brilliant chapters in the snow) all contribute to making this a thoroughly enjoyable book. Philip Turner wrote a number of other books featuring the same group of friends which are long out of print and quite pricey second hand, but should be possible to track down via the public library interloan system. I'll look forward to reading them.